Le Col de Joux Plane
25 July 2020
Earlier this year I decided to plan to put my bike in the back of the car and drive to Provence with the aim of riding up Mont Ventoux. I was going to go in May, but the coronavirus pandemic put paid to that idea as France and England went into lockdown.
As restrictions eased in June my family, forced to abandon their own holiday plans, decided to go back to Samoëns in the French Alps where they had holidayed before. They asked if I’d like to join them, and of course I said ‘yes’.
Samoëns is the start point for one of the classic French cycling climbs, the Col de Joux Plane. One of the ski- and bike-hire shops in the village, Antonioz Ski, has road bikes for hire. It was too good an opportunity to miss! So early on Friday evening I collected the Scott bike I’d reserved with its red carbon frame and compact chainset, rode it the few hundred metres back to the apartment and carried it up the stairs.
On Saturday morning I was up at 6.15 for breakfast, and by 7.40 I was ready to set off. I rode a few kilometres along the valley road and back to warm up, then swung round the turn which leads immediately into the climb. There are two or three options for the start from Samoëns. The first kilometre of the one I had chosen – simply because it was nearest our apartment – is the steepest kilometre of the whole climb, with an average gradient of 10.4% and incorporating the steepest 200m of the entire climb at a 12.6% gradient. Right from the start I was in my bottom gear (34 x 32), and after 500m I was seriously doubting if I would be able to keep going. But somehow I made it to the point where the gradient eases a bit and I could carry on a bit more comfortably.
About half way there’s a short section where the road is virtually flat and I took my first break there, refuelling with the best part of a Snickers bar. The it was upwards again: hairpins, steady climbing, steeper heart-pounding lung-gasping sections. A few other cyclists overtook me; I overtook no-one. My family passed me in the car on their way to the top.
At last the helpful countdown signs at the side of the road showed just 2km to go. I ground on until the cars parked at the side of the road told me that the top was just round the next bend. I passed the summit sign to the family’s cheers and rode the last few metres to the actual top before slowing to a careful stop, doubtful if I could get off the bike without falling over (I managed it).
I didn’t want just to go back the way I’d come so after a short rest and a refuelling pain au chocolat I carried on towards Morzine. There’s a short uphill section about 2km further along where tired legs were reluctant to start working again, then the twisty descent which I took rather cautiously on the unfamiliar bike.
The road from Morzine to Les Gets was busy with traffic; an uphill grind at an easy gradient. From Les Gets it’s downhill all the way to Taninges – sweeping bends taken fast where the surface was good, slow and jolting over the broken and potholed sections. And finally the last few level kilometres along the valley back to Samoëns.
And all being well I’ll be doing my Mont Ventoux trip at the end of September!
[Early September update: Mont Ventoux trip Covid-cancelled 😢 ]
Well done Tony …
I am in awe!