Saturday, July 5, 2008

La Route des Grandes Alpes Day 10: Guillaumes to Barcelonette

62.7 km total
Col de la Cayolle 2,326m

The road up from Guillaumes to Col de la Cayolle is lovely. Hairpins, tunnels (no need for lights), waterfalls and marmottes are all part of the scenery.

On the descent, we felt the chill for the first time on our trip. And we came to the conclusion that there is a huge difference between doing these cols from north to south versus from south to north. In the first case, one climbs on the cooler north side and descends on the warmer south side. In the other direction (riding from south to north) you climb on the warm side and descend on the cold side. The latter is definitely the tougher way.

Through the stunning Gorges du Bachelard, we arrived well and warm again in beautiful Barcelonnette. A good shower was waiting for us followed by food and ice cream. We were cared for more than Cadel Evans was going to be in the 2008 TdF. But OK, we are tougher than him too (and our attitude is no where as bad as his).

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