The European Chronicles 2023.13 - French Overload
Is it Possible? Too Many Turns 😂
Eleanor Roosevelt said: Do something that scares you every day.
Step outside your comfort zone. Challenge yourself.
Col du Galibier will do that. In the rain, wind and cold, for sure. Wiki says 2642 meters, 8667 feet, but Relive and my phone gps say 8543 because I wimped out and took the "tunnel of love," bypassing the very top. It was wet, 45 degrees and windy. Sheer cliff drop-offs. It gets your attention.
Every rider on the planet knows what this photo means. 😂
But I knew it ahead of time and suited up. The Ventusky app/site is awesome!
Before I left Barcelonnette, chatted with the two Lotus owners...German, out for a driving holiday. "What made you both buy a Lotus?," I ask. "Everyone in Germany owns Porsches, we wanted something different." Totally get that.
The GT3 owner might beg to differ. You'd think there were great roads around here... 😂
Relive 'Col(d) Rain'
You can bypass the very top of Col du Galibier by taking "the tunnel of love" as I now call it. Warm. Dry. Straight. Short. When it is 45 degrees and pouring, with a 9000 foot cliff one foot to your right, it is, without question, the tunnel of love.
I took it, no apologies!
Down the other side, at the hotel...espresso please!
But, what a difference a day makes. Sunny. Not that windy. I do a loop: Galibier and Izoard...two classic passes.
Relive 'Galibier & Izoard'
An absolutely fantastic ride.
No tunnel of love this time...at the top!
Tour de France monument
The next day, four more...Telegraphe, Madeleine, Roseland and Iseran...
Relive 'Telegraphe, Madeleine, Roseland & Iseran'
One of these is not like the others...
Fixed...😂
Stolen from the pass photographer site; had seen him going up the mountain...waiting for my high quality images to upload...in the meantime, the crappy versions...
Ciao!
Update: The high quality images from the Iseran pass photographer.
