Last year, Phil proposed an interesting two-day ride to the eastern side of the Vercors with an overnight stop in Chichilianne. We had intended to do the ride when I was over last October but the weather was not favourable. Having decided earlier in the year to take a break from the Marmotte, I was looking for an interesting cycling challenge and decided that I would attempt Phil's route in one day!
I departed St. Nazaire at 7:30 in mainly sunny skies and crisp morning temperatures wondering if I had dressed warmly enough given that I was only wearing shorts and a thin long sleeve jersey. The temperatures were forecast to peak around 20C and so the cold wouldn't last too long. I rode up Combe Laval steadily at a power output just below my 25 mile TT threshold; probably a little too hard in hindsight. I still felt very fresh at the hotel by the Col de la Machine where I topped up my water bottles. In no time I reached the tunnel at the top of the Col de Rousset. Emerging from the tunnel, the mistral wind suddenly made its presence felt. Although the average gradient on the descent of the Col de Rousset towards Die is around 5%, there were several sections where pedalling was actually necessary if you wanted to keep the speed above 40 km/h. Unfortunately, these gusty winds were from the north. Upon turning left onto the road to Châtillon-en-Diois just beyond Die, the sight of the road sign "Grenoble 91" was somewhat disheartening and put the challenge of the ride into perspective!
Heading towards Châtillon, I was now riding in new territory. The road climbed gradually to the hamlet of Menée whereupon the proper climb up to the 1457 m Col de Menée began. The climb has a very similar profile to that of the Col de Rousset; around 15 km at 5% average. Easy right? Today parts of the climb felt like 8%+ with the wind. My average power had dropped significantly and I began contemplating whether I would have anything left for the much harder climb up to St. Nizier later in the day. Nevertheless, the spectacular views over the Drôme valley more than made up for my elevated heartrate. Emerging from the long dark tunnel at the top of the col, I could immediately sense the contrasting landscapes of the Drôme and the Drac valleys. Mont Aiguille, an iconic feature of the Vercors, and the snow-covered Alps in the distance could all be seen.
The first part of the descent towards Chichilianne was rather twisty and technical but the road surface was top notch and only loses about 600 m of elevation to the main road. The 8 km on the N75 from Clelles to St. Michel was actually quite pleasant; there was a good cycle lane and the traffic was very quiet. At. St. Michel-les-Portes, the road climbed to the 1352 m Col de l'Allimas at an inconsistent grade with two short descents. The first half of the climb offered more panoramic views of the north side of Mont Aiguille. The final 2 km of the climb averaged 8%. Although I was heading north, it seemed that the headwind was easing as the section of the climb did not seem too taxing. Upon descending into Gresse-en-Vercors, I was relieved to see a fountain as my bottles were getting dangerously low. Continuing on, I passed over the 1222 m Col des Deux, evidently a "free col" when approaching it from the south-east side. Be warned though that the first part of the descent off the northern side of the Col des Deux is very steep. Following this steep bit, the road was fairly flat as it continued towards St. Andéol providing stunning views of the high plateau of the Vercors. At Château-Bernard, a short 200 m climb took me to the top of the 1154 m Col de l'Arzelier. From there, it was all downhill to the valley floor.
My GPS navigated me faultlessly through Vif and the outskirts of Grenoble. There were a couple of short and sharp hills around Claix before I reached the beginning of the proper climb up to St. Nizier. I had been fearing this climb since my rough patch around the Col de Menée. I knew I would only have to make it to the top because it would then be virtually all done hill back to St. Nazaire. Surprisingly, I managed to turn a 34-21 gear for most of the climb, only using my lowest gear of 34-23 for brief recoveries. I topped up my water supply in St. Nizier and enjoyed the well-deserved descent to Pont-en-Royans via Villard and the Gorges de la Bourne. I made it back just shortly before 6:00. Despite having burned over 6600 kcal, I didn't feel very hungry. I definitely did not feel too dehydrated; my net weight loss for this ride was only 1.1 kg and I still felt energetic. Today (one day later), my legs actually feel okay and I'm eating lots. I'll do a short flattish recovery ride later this afternoon.
I can highly recommend this ride (perhaps taking a more sensible two days) as you get to experience so many beautiful and contrasting landscapes. Compared to the Marmotte, I think the route is a little bit easier even though it is 80 km longer. It is especially reassuring to know that that last 50 km of the ride are mostly downhill, rather than an uphill finish to Alpe d'Huez for the Marmotte. I didn't take my camera with me this trip, but Soph managed to sneak in a photo of me once I got back. I have also attached my profiles for the climbs up to Combe Laval and St. Nizier. You can clearly see how fatigue affected my power output! Other interesting ride statistics...
Total distance: 252.5 km (156.9 miles)
Ride time: 9:46:22
Average speed: 25.8 km/h (16.0 mph)
Estimated climbing: 4000+ m
And for the power meter geeks...
Average power: 188 W (which includes freewheeling)
Average normalized power: 211 W
Training stress score: 515.3
Intensity factor: 0.726