Col de la Croix de Fer
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Col de la Croix de Fer
I decided to go for the Croix de Fer yesterday, a hot and sunny day this was !
The other advantage you have with climbing the Croix de Fer is that you can go back down via the Col du Glandon and do a nice tour around the Arvan Mountains. It finally made it 64km with 1900m of climbing.
I started at 8 o'clock cycling from St Marie de Cuines to St Jean de Maurienne, I followed the road (That the riders will be using to reach St Jean de Maurienne on the Tour de France). After St Jean, the road starts climbing straight away, which only makes 12km to get warmed up The climb itself is really hard because it is long (30km) and the these flat bits that you can find at around alt. 900m and 1200m do not really help to recover... You always see these amazing Aiguilles d'Arves (Arves peaks) all the way up, and after St Sorlin d'Arves, this is where it gets even more wonderfull with the glaciers, high altitude atmosphere and the fantastic views that you can get There were also few people because the summer holiday hasn't started yet. and the snow cover still remains quite low down (Probably around 2400m. Overall it was a great day of cycling, It remained very warm on top (22 deg C compared to 29 at the bottom). The descent via the Glandon pass is very steep and technical, scary at times but enjoyable and tiring for the arms and fingers.
Next weekend I should go for the Cols des Aravis and Saisies with a friend of mine. (110km) Ced x
The other advantage you have with climbing the Croix de Fer is that you can go back down via the Col du Glandon and do a nice tour around the Arvan Mountains. It finally made it 64km with 1900m of climbing.
I started at 8 o'clock cycling from St Marie de Cuines to St Jean de Maurienne, I followed the road (That the riders will be using to reach St Jean de Maurienne on the Tour de France). After St Jean, the road starts climbing straight away, which only makes 12km to get warmed up The climb itself is really hard because it is long (30km) and the these flat bits that you can find at around alt. 900m and 1200m do not really help to recover... You always see these amazing Aiguilles d'Arves (Arves peaks) all the way up, and after St Sorlin d'Arves, this is where it gets even more wonderfull with the glaciers, high altitude atmosphere and the fantastic views that you can get There were also few people because the summer holiday hasn't started yet. and the snow cover still remains quite low down (Probably around 2400m. Overall it was a great day of cycling, It remained very warm on top (22 deg C compared to 29 at the bottom). The descent via the Glandon pass is very steep and technical, scary at times but enjoyable and tiring for the arms and fingers.
Next weekend I should go for the Cols des Aravis and Saisies with a friend of mine. (110km) Ced x
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Nice ride report, thanks for sharing! Seems like you're in a great area. A very good friend of mine has relatives with a nice apartment outside of Guillestre so Col d'Izoard is in their backyard. I visited last year and went rando skiing in the Queyras. Beautiful area!
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That sounds like a great ride. I feel tired just reading about it.
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that is a nice ride!! was the road in good condition? the winter snows here, and the snow removal, really tear up our roads.
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Every springtime, they make sure that the road stays in good conditions ... And looking at the number of international cycling races which take place in these mountain passes, they'd better do
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Nice ride report, thanks for sharing! Seems like you're in a great area. A very good friend of mine has relatives with a nice apartment outside of Guillestre so Col d'Izoard is in their backyard. I visited last year and went rando skiing in the Queyras. Beautiful area!
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Just for s-h-t-s and giggles, what does these translate to in English? (I see the "col" as common... "road"?)
Col de la Croix de Fer
Col du Glandon
Col d'Izoard
Col de la Croix de Fer
Col du Glandon
Col d'Izoard
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