Col del la Madeleine

It was an easy ride down into Moutiers.  From there I headed to the base of the climb over the pass.  Kept taking the wrong turn and back tracking as I was not welcome on the highway.  Nice day and I got to spend most of it climbing over the pass “Col del la Madeleine”.  Nice views going up the valley.  At the top decided to work on the brakes as the rear was not stopping the bike.  With a little adjustment I had them working nicely again.  Came in handy when I figure out what the ! sign was for.  There was a small trench across the road and the brakes allowed me to leave skid marks as I did not want to cross that at 30+ miles an hour.

6/5/2012

St Jean de Maurienne 

57.7 miles, 8:04 minutes moving, Max Speed 33.7, Moving Average 7.1, 

 Stop Time 4:24, Overall Average Speed 4.6,   Start 8:00 and 20:00  Accent 5531 Feet  Nice day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Another invite

Yes I stop and smell them

It was still raining off and on.  Road down through the gorge was nice.  I hear someone calling to me.  I go over and meet Jacque and his daughter.  They invite me to their home and give me directions.  They are off on a 5 hour bike ride.  I head into Albertville and then up to their place.  They catch up to me as I get to the turn off to their village.  They give me a lift saving me an hour plus of switchbacks up the mountain.  Bike just did not fit all the way in the vehicle so I held it.  Nice dinner and a bed.  Jacque’s daughter played in the X-games in Aspen a couple of years ago.  Both  are ski instructors. 

6/4/12

40.9 miles, 3:59 minutes moving, Max Speed 29.1, Moving Average 9.2, 

 Stop Time 1:53, Overall Average Speed 6.3,   Start12:00and 19:30  Accent 1491 Feet  Some Rain.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Flumet

Hide from the rain in the morning.  Then thought it would hold off.  I made it to the top of hill out of Chamonix then it let loose.  So I rode from one sheltered spot to the next.  I decided to push on so I head up to Flumet.  Found a nice campground and called it an early night.  No showers available but I was well washed.

6/3/12

Flumet

36.8 miles, 5:04 minutes moving, Max Speed 26.9, Moving Average 7.2, 

 Stop Time 4:37, Overall Average Speed 3.8,   Start 11:00 and 19:00  Accent 2416 Feet  Rain.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Chamonix

Looking at the map I decided that I had ended up near Chamonix that I should not run up the valley to visit.  Highway runs up the bottom of the valley.  Bike route runs on the hill sides.  Highway security pulled up when I ended up on the entrance ramp with him waving his finger at me.  I pointed to the other choice which was only marked as a dead end and he nodded that was the way to go.  Oh good lots of switchbacks up the long hill.  Chamonix had lots of tourist and good views of the mountain.  Saw the mountain I walked up many years ago as they would not let me on the lift with the plastic edge three pin skis.  I did get to the ski area and got to ski.  I found another camp that I was the only camper.

6/2/12

Chamonix

33.9 miles, 5:17 minutes moving, Max Speed 29.8, Moving Average 6.4, 

 Stop Time 5:15, Overall Average Speed 3.2,   Start10:40 and 20:30  Accent 2274 Feet  Nice day with rain in the evening

Love & Kisses

Steve

Valley ride

Got a late start and had a nice ride up the valley.  Found a internet connection and decided to try to hang out and try to get caught up on the blog.  Camp ground I found I was the only person there with a roaring frog pond as they serenaded each other.

6/1/12

Sallanches

27.5 miles, 3:25 minutes moving, Max Speed 22.6, Moving Average 7.9, 

 Stop Time 6:47, Overall Average Speed 2.7,   Start10:40 and 18:30  Accent 574 Feet  

Mont Blanc

Nice day.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Mortgage

Thanks to Anne Maria and Regis I have laundry cloths and good food in my belly.  Started out heading south and then I looked at my maps.  So I ended up going north east around the south end of Geneva.  I was going to head over some more hills but ended up saying in the valleys.  My home mortgage was going for closing so I wanted to be close to the internet connection encase I was needed.  I got a new mortgage taking two points off the old one.  Thanks Bill for signing my name to papers that indenture me for the next 30 years to the capitalist system.

5/31/2012

Cluses

50.6 miles, 6:37 minutes moving, Max Speed 37.0, Moving Average 7.6, 

 Stop Time 12.04, Overall Average Speed 2.7,   Start8:30 and 19:00  Accent 1742 Feet  Some thunderheads but no rain.

Love & Kisses

Steve

Geneva

Regis offer to drive me into Geneva.  This was different after riding the bike everywhere.  It would be good to get some walking in.  As I walked through Geneva I remember why I liked my bike so much.  A mile was 15 minutes instead of 4 minutes.  Apple replaced my iPod touch for $100 as it had impact modifications, but was still running.  Then I was checking out travel book shops.  I ended up buying tape to keep blisters from getting big on my feet.   I have two rolls of tape back on the bike which I have not needed.  This walking sucks compared to riding my bike, but I need to do more as I am out of shape for long hikes.   Camera did not make it into the backpack.  So no mileage and no pics.

5/30/12

Geneva

Love & Kisses

Steve

Riding fast

So Geneva is at that end.

A couple of slugs moved into the bedroll.  Took awhile removing slime trails.  There were rolling hills to ride through in the morning.  I had moved from chalet to chateaux country.  It was a quick 40 miles around Lac Lemon to Geneva.  After making an appointment at the apple store for my iPod, I was off to visit Maria Ann and Regis that I worked with in California. 

5/29/2012

Geneva

84.9 miles, 8:56 minutes moving, Max Speed 56.2???, Moving Average 9.5, 

 Stop Time 4:04, Overall Average Speed 6.5,   Start 6:00 and 18:30  Accent 2274 Feet  Clear and hot

Love & Kisses

Steve

Oh it is a Holiday

Eiger

Yes it is done with mirrors

With a dawn start it was a bit cool on the ride into Grindelwald.  Got my croissant fix and coasted into Interloken.  In Interloken I thought about picking up a sandwich for later.  I did not, which was a bad move as I found out as I went through town after town that it was a holiday and everything was closed.  The bike route got a little to scenic for me so I took the main road.  In one campground I tried they were charging 33% tax on top of the high fee.  I rode on.  Night came on and I found a mountain bike trail that had a nice forest to camp in.

5/28/2012

Bulle

86.3 miles, 11:22 minutes moving, Max Speed 35.2, Moving Average 8.5, 

 Stop Time 5:35, Overall Average Speed 5.7,   Start 06:00 and 24:00  Accent 4830 Feet  Nice day

Love & Kisses

Steve

Yes you must go down to get to the other side.

Glad I could go around .... Wrong

I was on the other side

So why are the passes closed

Started the day with a short trip into town where I found internet, a plug off the back of the local facilities, and a park bench just in reach of the plug.  Sorry no picture, Dave.  So after spending sometime updating my blog, I headed up the hill.  Found a sign warning it was a 14% grade.  At the top I was happy I did not drop into the town below as the road stayed near the top.   I was wrong I wanted to drop straight down and up the other side.  I could have grab a lift in the gondola to the top of the water fall, but I took the road up and up.  As night approached I found a nice camp near the top of the pass. 

5/27/2012

Grosse Scheidegg

20.4 miles, 4:19 minutes moving, Max Speed 25.0, Moving Average 4.7, 

 Stop Time 3:25, Overall Average Speed 2.6,   Start 10:30 and 21:30  Accent 4445 Feet  Low clouds in morning with partly cloudy in the evening with thunder on the pass. 

Love & Kisses

Steve