Cycling News & Blog Articles

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2023 Cycling and Cow Calendars

Busy doing your Christmas shopping? Looking for a 2023 cycling or cow calendar? Well, look no further. I’ve made two calendars for 2022: A cycling calendar and a cows calendar. Moo!

There is only one size this year: (11 x 8.5 in / 279 x 216 mm)
Price: €10.30, $12.06 or a similar amount in other currencies. Global delivery is reliable.

Lulu.com, the publisher, sometimes has coupon codes available to lower the price. Use google to search for a coupon code in your geography.

A few quick points:

All photos were taken by me in the past 12 months.I am making no money from this. The price is just what is charged by the printing company.I am not (even remotely) a professional photographer. All the photos are taken using a decent portable digital camera. But the quality of the photos has turned out OK. This is just for fun.I have chosen a printing company that is inexpensive and has global delivery options – I have used them the last 10 years, selling a few hundred calendars each year – and people seem quite satisfied with the print quality. Orders are placed directly with Lulu.

Each calendar has 14 photos: a cover, a back page, and one for each month. You can preview all photos in the slide shows below.




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Col de la Plagnette via Top of Valloire Ski Station

This ride includes two gravel adventures. First climbing from Valloire to the top of its Ski Station (2534 metres) via at least 35 hairpins. Then some superb gravel up a truly beautiful hidden valley parallel to the paved Galibier road but surrounded by high mountains, and then a slightly crazy ascent to Col de la Plagnette – bike pushing involved. Woohoooo !

My wife and I were staying in Valloire for three nights. Our plan was to do several big hikes and I was allowed one (one!) bike ride. So I chose it carefully. In fact, I used our first hike to do some serious route planning:

But my first goal was to get to the very top of Valloire-Galibier ski station. Starting from town, if you look closely at the map you’ll see it is nothing but hairpins early on. It is paved for a couple of kilometres and I passed various ski chalets, but it soon becomes a nice gravel ski-lift service road.











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Ancien Fort de Pattacreuse

I am still here! I have been mainly riding locally or visiting nearby bigger climbs that I have written about endlessly (Joux Plane, Croix Fry, Colombière, etc). But thank-you for all the kind emails worrying about me! �‚

Here is a new fun adventure. An unpaved ride up to Col du Mont Cenis and its lake then up higher to the Ancien Fort de Pattacreuse (2385m). I started in Lanslebourg exactly at the start of the 10 km paved climb to Mont Cenis, but immediately jumped onto a good quality unpaved road. It’s at times quite steep, but very peaceful and good cycling. It is the same route that could lead to Pas de Beccia (2717 metres) via Fort de la Turra

But at roughly 2100 metres I would turn left and briefly join the paved road just below Col du Mont Cenis (2085 metres).

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My 2021 Cycling Challenge – Results

Today is the end of the 17th year of this blog and thus the end of my 17th annual cycling challenge. How did I do versus my 2021 Cycling Challenge (details here)? Well … there’s some good news and some bad news.

For obvious reasons I didn’t stray far from home very often. And problems from my neck/spine fracture a couple of years ago has made very long rides difficult. But I stayed active, cycling 250 times and hiking more than a 100 times in 2021.

The Good News:
I did achieve my primary goal of 160,200 metres of vertical ascent.





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2022 Cycling and Cow Calendars

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La Barillette. Sunrise Ride!

Yes, I am still here. I know I haven’t posted in a long time. Sorry. I am still riding. But for various reasons this year it’s been mainly from home.

Wooohoo! A fabulous ride in the dark freezing cold to see the sunrise with my great friends Richard and Tim.

A good sunrise ride requires an unimpeded view towards the sunrise. The goal is always to arrive at least 10 minutes before the sunrise to enjoy the changing sky. It was cold and windy so we were heavily dressed and all had bike lights ready for this lovely 12.7 kilometre climb on a quiet Jura mountain forest road.

La Dôle



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Cormet de Roselend via Col du Pré

Cormet de Roselend is one of the more beautiful climbs in the Alps. But remember, the best route is not via the main Route des Grandes Alpes road that climbs the north and south sides. Instead, take the 3rd way up via Col du Pré, like the Critériun du Dauphiné will on June 5th.

Col du Pré is a challenging beautiful climb with 26 hairpins and high mountain views in all directions. And just beyond the summit is one of the great views in the Alps down towards Lac de Roselend. And best of all? To get to Cormet de Roselend you must ride over the lac de Roselend dam! Damn!

The climb to Col du Pré starts immediately in Beaufort. But after the after the village of Arêches all the hairpins begin.

Lac de Roselend is still not quite full, so not quite as beautiful as in late summer. But the views from Col du Pré are amazing.








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Col de la Colombière via Romme

Yes, I am still here! My first adventure not starting from home since the end of the most recent French lockdown. The route? Col de la Colombière “the hard way” via Romme.

These will be the feature two climbs during stage eight of the 2021 Tour de France. See bottom of post for the stage profile.

The climb to Romme is steep! It begins as a little cliff road right beside the autoroute. The moment the road turns up there is this welcoming sign:












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Jura Mountains 6 Col Loop

Woohoo, my first ride not starting from home in 6 months. I was motivated as yesterday was my first ride of 2021 in shorts, and tonight France is almost certainly going to announce stricter lockdown conditions. �

Part of my 2021 Cycling Challenge was to climb 100 cols, so I needed to get moving as I’ve been cycling the 5 cols near me over and over. �‚

The loop climbs Col de Richemond (1060m) then visits several nearby Cols atop the Plateau de Retord, finally descending back to the start via Col de Cuvery (1178m). See bottom map with all the cols labeled. Note, while I would visit 6 Cols, I didn’t really climb 6 cols. In particular, Col de Bérentin and Col de Cuvery are better climbs from their other side – see here and here.

But it’s a very nice loop. Nothing spectacular, but scenic and quiet:


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2021 Update – A Few Photos

I hope everyone is doing well. I know, it’s been a while since I posted. Between COVID, winter, and a couple of other things – I’ve only ridden from home so far this year. No new adventures … yet. But I’ve been riding a lot locally.

I am actually on pace for my 2021 Challenge of cycling uphill one foot for every single minute of the year. �‚

525,600 minutes = 525,600 feet = 160,200 metres.

Hopefully, I’ll get more adventurous at some point soon. But here are a few photos of recent rides. Be well.

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My 2021 Cycling Challenge

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My 2020 Cycling Challenge – Results

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2021 Cycling and Cow Calendars

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Col du Joly Unpaved

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Col du Chat and Lac du Bourget

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Col Hunting Above Megève

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Ten Great Cycling Routes in the Beautiful Vercors

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Mont Salève Sunrise

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Grand Colombier and Col de la Biche Unpaved

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Col de Sapey via Les Lacets de Montvernier

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