So we have found the supermarkets, the odd bar (would have been rude not to), the cinema, swimming pool and even worked out how to use the TV (and how Pete can watch MotoGP). Still on the list is to find a running route without a mountain climb to kill me at the end – this flat bit in the valley is my favourite part.
Also still on the list is a mountain bike route that doesn’t start off with an hour and a half of straight climbing up switch back roads. We have now tried two routes out from the VTOPO guided ride book that we bought and both had us sweating up a mountain for ages and then one long big fast down at the end. The views are stunning but it is a lung buster way to get there (especially on an enduro style bike).
Today we rode up through Seez to St Germain and then onto Le Mont and in the end we were higher than the ski chairlift!!!
At least we didnt need a lift to our local hospital in ones of these …..
Next we are going to try a ride from our other mountain biking (VTT) book and see if that has more mixed climbing and descending within the rides.
We have also signed up for a ride next Sunday on closed road which will go from Val D’Isere up to the Col de L’Iseran (2764m). For the day the “pass” is open only for bicycles and they provide a shuttle up to Val D’Isere so you only have to ride the last 17km to the Col.
Once there you have the option to go down the other side to a town a similar distance away and back up to the Col. Then from the Col you get to ride the whole way down to Bourg Saint Maurice. That downhill sounds like it will be worth the climb – although I am wishing that I had disc brakes on my road bike for all those hairpin bends!
The Michael Thomas French course is going well too. When watching the World Cup we can pick out at least 10 words of the commentary – although we are only on Chapter 2 of 8 so need to keep with it. In the commentary they seem to say “left” an awful lot here – it could make for a really dangerous drinking game!
