Saturday, June 28, 2008

La Route des Grandes Alpes Day 5: Briançon to Jausiers

94.3 km total
Col de l’Izoard 2,360m
Col de la Platrière 2,220m
Col de l’Ange Gardien 1,347m
Col de Vars 2,109m

We had no idea yet, but this was going to be the toughest day so far. Was it because we wrongly thought that after Iseran and Galibier the hardest was done or was it the heat?

We sure took off at a very easy pace. No salvation…we needed a long break in Cervières less than half way up to Izoard! When we took off again, we kept the same slow pace as before and the legs started feeling better. We reached Izoard feeling good. Enjoyed Casse Déserte and hit our all time max speed when entering the village of Brunissard at 86 kmh. Good that the gendarmes we had congratulated at the Barrage de Tignes were not doing the same job here.

The rest of the road to Guillestre through the Combe du Queyras is awesome, even though we had to fight a headwind. Part of this road along the Guil river is a cliff road in its purest form. With our slow start, we were sure not ahead of our schedule so we decided to continue straight with the Col de Vars.

Heat…heat…struggle. At this time of the afternoon the climb was roasting in the sun… and so were we. The best motivation came when we saw our German friends behind us. They had passed us earlier on Izoard, but had stopped for a real meal in Guillestre. So we weren’t going that badly. We reached the top after them and enjoyed their company until we decided to descend to our final destination for the day: Jausiers.

We enjoyed another descent, but used our full concentration to stay safe (combination of road construction and fatigue at the end of this tough day). Arriving in Jausiers, we made contact with SW in no time. After a much-needed shower in the very comfy chambres d’hôtes they had found, off we went for food. Sure enough, our new friends Karsten and Rosario showed up in the same restaurant and we ended the evening at the same table chatting away.

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