Despite organising le Taxi, explaining many times 4 people and 4 bikes in boxes,
he turned up in a Peugeot 406 or something as useless, with a bike rack!! Quick search round
Geneva taxi rank and we were sorted...
Our digs, 2.5km from the centre of Albertville, in Cal's words - le chateux....
Day 1 and Darran wonders if arm warmers are needed, by the top of the Croix-de-fer he'd be desperate for a jacket and by the bottom
he'd have given his bike away for one.
Fortunately I'm soft...
Top of the Col des Aravis, two more Cols to go and these two nutters are sprinting for the line...
Superstar Cal, fluent in more languages than Google translate..
The smiles were short-lived, the shots were 55% Chartreux....
Excellent cycle path from Albertville to Annecy...
Lungs of a horse...
Luckily Cal was there to prop me up...
The lads have just realised Ste's cleared off with the kitty....
Day 3, epic again, after the Col des Aravis (1st passing) and Col de Columbiere, just after turning at the northern most point with only one more Col planned,
we encountered a 'barrage'. Fearing the worst - having to return the way we came, 65miles back over 2 Cols, Darran did the 'sensible' thing and manouvered round the
barrier and set-off up the road to see if we could get through. Having been attacked by a French workman he swiftly returned and decided Craig should try the same thing.
It turned out there was serious danger of death from falling rocks, fortunately the workman understood my pleading and suggested an alternative route not marked on the map.
Fortunately these things are everywhere...
Top of the Colombiere, a cracking climb with a sting in the tail finish...
Darran often found himself staring at his shoes....
Branches open nationwide soon....
Can you spare £2 per month?....
Strategically placed at the top of the house to avoid interaction with other paying guests....
Darran was asked to remove the TV, after breaking it!!!
Two petit pois in a pod...
Top of the Col de Madeleine, its funny but we thought this was cold, after warming up on the descent to St. Jean de
Maurienne unfortunately someone had the bright idea to climb the Croix de Fer.
Capes off at the bottom of the Madeleine....
What happened next I'm sure none of us will ever forget, about 10 mile up the Croix de Fer the weather turned, we were all separated by a long way,
Darran at the front, Ste next, Craig a long long way down and Cal even further. It started raining hard, we were all already suffering and cold then it started
hail stoning pretty heavy. By the top everyone was worried, even the cafe owner and customers.
The weather outside was grim, it's just a shame we were at the top of a 7000ft mountain...
By the bottom everybody felt much worse, Ste had to be helped off his bike...
Fortunately the following days were much nicer....
End of the ride, 110miles and start of Cal's birthday celebrations, 10 hours later we'd pass this bar at 4am looking for somewhere to get another beer!
