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The Mixed Bag
Steve Blom Tells All !orHow We Went Out & Back - and Up & Down a Bit, Too....
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Friday 1st August to Monday 11th August 2003 - a 7-day, 740km, and 43-col traverse of the Alps, taking in many of the famous Cols from the Tour de France.
10 nights Bed-and-Breakfast, 8 evening meals. Coach travel from the UK. All arranged by Graeme Baxter's Sporting Tours
Johnstone Wheelers on Tour - Stevie Blom, Mark Whitehead and Scott Donaldson - plus another 40 cyclists, a real mixed bag.
The coach carried our luggage each day from overnight stop to overnight stop, and was there to act as a back up for serious mechanical breakdown.
Accommodation was pre-booked at equidistant locations, on Half-Board basis (Bed, Breakfast, Evening Meal).
The Raid Alpine (France/Italy)
The Raid Alpine is the sister randonnée to the Raid Pyreneen, with a 740km and 43 col traverse of the Alps from Thonon-les-Bains (Lake Geneva) to Antibes (Mediterranean coast).
Like the Raid Pyreneen, the route takes you over many of the Cols which feature so prominently in the Tour de France, including the Iseran, Mont Cenis, Izoard, Vars, Restefond (highest col in Europe).
We departed Thonon-les-Bains on the Sunday and the aim of the Randonnée is to complete the distance in 7 days (average 100km per day), thus arriving in Antibes on the Saturday.
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Friday 1st August -
Our no-overnight policy means a 16.30hrs sailing Dover to Calais and accommodation at the 2-star Hotel Ibis in Paris.
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Saturday -
Travel to Thonon-les-Bains, where accommodation has been reserved at the Hotel Cote Sud. (Alternatively, fly to Geneva and make your own way to Thonon-les-Bains.)
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Sunday - 96km to Notre Dame de Belle Combe.
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Monday - 99km to Val d'Isere.
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Tuesday - 116km to Susa (Italy).
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Wednesday - 84km to Col du Vars.
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Thursday - 104km to Auron.
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Friday - 160km to Grasse.
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Saturday - 22km to Antibes. Bikes reloaded on the coach and travel to Aix.
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Sunday: Commence travel home, making a night stop over at the 2-star Hotel Ibis in Paris.
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Monday 11th August -
Continuing the travel home, we take the 13.30hrs sailing to Dover, arriving London 16.00hrs, Birmingham 18.00hrs, Manchester/Sheffield 20.00hrs, Leeds 21.00hrs, and Newcastle by 23.00hrs.
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Photo 1 - 3rd August.
The first picture was taken on the Col de Ramaz which 1557m high!
This is a great view over Geneva itself - with Stevie and Mark standing at the back gasping for air. The temperature that day an unbelievable 43 degrees!!!!!!
Photo taken by Scott Donaldson.
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Photo 2 - 6th August.
Stevie Blom and Mark Whitehead outside a small Italian town called Susa - close to the French border.
We started at Susa which is 433m above sea level and we had
to climb all morning and afternoon to get to the top of the Col de Mongenevre 1850m (that's a 1417m climb!!!!) Again, the temperature was about 38 degrees - very hot indeed!
After this massive climb we dropped down to roughly 900m and tackled the hardest climb of the Col de Izoard - 2360m high !!
Photo taken by Scott Donaldson.
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Photo 3 - 6th August.
This is Stevie Blom tackling the Col de Mongenevre in 39 x 27 all the way!!
Photo taken superbly by Scott Donaldson.
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Photo 4 - 6th August.
Here we are at the top of the Col de Mongenevre at a local cafe joint eating "the best made sandwiches ever",
fuelling up before we tackle the mighty Izoard!!
Photo taken by Geoff Oliver (a colleague on same trip).
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Photo 5 - 6th August.
Here we are at the top of the Izoard - a tough climb indeed! - Hairpin after hairpin, endless sunshine and great scenery! - Altitude 2360m.
Photo taken by Scott Donaldson
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Photo 6 - 8th August.
You can see Scott Donaldson, Mark van Whitehead, Fred, and Stevie Blom.
Here we are admiring the work of God and taking a break from the ultimate descent!!!!!!
This is the "Gorge pass" just outside St Etienne - we came firing down at 40-plus mph, past cars, rocks, dodgy roads etc - what a thrill!!!
Photo taken by Geoff Oliver.
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Photo 7 - 8th August.
Now what a cool cooo-o-o-o-llll moment! - As we descended from the Col de Bleine (1439m) we passed by a nice fountain, which to our eyes looked like heaven, so we all jumped in and relaxed big time to cool down our legs.
Photo shows Mark Whitehead, Geoff Oliver and Simon.
Photo taken by Scott Donaldson.
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Many more photies to be seen - you just have to ask!
Until the next time - Cheers !
Stevie.
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