6 Days of Cycling – Grenoble

1/11/2009 by tourdoisans

The end of October sees the start of the 6 day winter cycling circuit where the pro riders have traditional made their money over the winter period. We went to see the saturday night version of the event that starts at 7PM and ran through to 2AM.You can either sit in the stalls round the edge or book one of the tables in the middle of the velodrome and enjoy a slap up meal. As well as cycling there is a host of other stuff going on from – singers, a live band, circus acts and magicians. Sometimes it all seems to be happening at the same time so while you are trying to work out who is winning the maddison there will be a singer blasting out Frank Sinatras “My Way”. We will run a Grenoble Cycling 6 Days Long Weekend in 2010 to include riding Alpe d’Huez and also a huge meal in the centre of the Velodrome - so visit our website for more information.

6 jours cyclistes des grenobles

Last Summer Guests Leave Bourg d’Oisans – October

27/10/2009 by tourdoisans

Our last set of summer guests left us this weekend after enjoying some superb weather (if a little fresh on the downhill descents). Our two guests flew into Lyon and cycled to Bourg d’Oisans – some 164 km. They finally reached our house in Bourg d’Oisans at 7:30 PM tired – but we made sure they had a big meal waiting for them as part of their stay. Over the next few days they tackled St Christophe and of course Alpe d’Huez where they both posted credible times. At the end of their stay they both admited that cycling is not their usual sport !

Summer cycling guests outside Enjoy Oisans

We are now shut for November while we do a bit of painting and add some improvements to the house including satellite tv  to go with our free WiFi service. We are taking booking over the winter for Skiing in Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes both on a bed and breakfast basis in our house and with our friends the Hotel La Meije up inLes Deux Alpes. We also have a selection of apartments in Bourg d’Oisans

In Search of Robert Millar

25/10/2009 by tourdoisans

I have just finished reading this book. It is a great insight into the legend that is Robert Millar – and one of the reasons in 1984 that I got into cycling and especially my love of the mountains. Millar had all his Tour de France wins in the Pyrenees but the author still talks of the great battles he had in the Alpes and especially Alpe d’Huez and the Col du Galibier.

insearchofrobertmillar

The book can be found in all good bookstores but better still why not visit us here on one of our Cycling Holiday and read it for free.

Two new rides from Bourg d’Oisans

20/10/2009 by tourdoisans

Over the last couple of weeks I have tried a couple of new road rides- The first, last week was up from Allemont on the Route de Clot. The there and back trip is just under 40KM with a sharp climb passed the Allemont church up to 1293m. The road runs out here so it was back the same way to Bourg d’Oisans.

GPS

Allemont

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The second ride today was from Bourg d’Oisans up to Bons – just below Les Deux Alpes. This was a very similar climb a long a sheltered wooded road before opening up to fantastic views of Auris en Oisans. Once you go through Bons you can either take a right and climb up to Les Deux Alpes or descend back to Bourg d’Oisans. The total distance again was about 40km.

 

20091020 Bons 008

20091020 Bons 009

20091020 Bons 011

2010 Dauphiné Libéré to visits Alpe d’Huez

20/10/2009 by tourdoisans

The 2010 Dauphiné Libéré (running from the WC 5th June 2010) and the warm up for the Tour de France will be visiting Alpe d’Huez on the 12th June 2010. It will also be visiting the nearby city of Grenoble on the 11th June. We are currently running our Marmotte Training week this week and for an additional £55GBP you can stay for an extra night to catch Lance Armstrong and the other major tour contenders riding the event as part of their preperation for the Tour de France 2010.

Tour de France 2010 Route – no Alpe d’Huez but….

14/10/2009 by tourdoisans

The 2010 Tour de France route was announced today and although there is no Alpe d’Huez stage this year – stage 9 will head over the Col de Madeleine and this ridable from Bourg d’Oisans over the Col du Glandon (as used in La Marmotte sportive in July). Stage  10 from Chambery to Gap also looks interesting and could possible come very close to Bourg d’Oisans. This would make an ideal base to catch a bit of the Tour de France and also ride some of the climbs with us. The route will go up over Laffrey (30km) and we would then return to Bourg d’Oisans via the Col d’Ornon (2KM)

tour-de-france-route-2010

Stage Type Date Start and Finish Distance
P Prologue Saturday 3 July Rotterdam > Rotterdam 8 km
1 Flat Sunday 4 July Rotterdam > Bruxelles 224 km
2 Hilly Monday 5 July Bruxelles > Spa 192 km
3 Flat Tuesday 6 July Wanze > Arenberg Porte du Hainaut 207 km
4 Flat Wednesday 7 July Cambrai > Reims 150 km
5 Flat Thursday 8 July Épernay > Montargis 185 km
6 Flat Friday 9 July Montargis > Gueugnon 225 km
7 Medium mountains Saturday 10 July Tournus > Station des Rousses 161 km
8 High Mountains Sunday 11 July Station des Rousses > Morzine-Avoriaz 189 km
R Rest Day Monday 12 July Morzine-Avoriaz  
9 High Mountains Tuesday 13 July Morzine-Avoriaz > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 204 km
10 Medium mountains Wednesday 14 July Chambéry > Gap 179 km
11 Flat Thursday 15 July Sisteron > Bourg-lès-Valence 180 km
12 Hilly Friday 16 July Bourg-de-Péage > Mende 210 km
13 Flat Saturday 17 July Rodez > Revel 195 km
14 High Mountains Sunday 18 July Revel > Ax-3 Domaines 184 km
15 High Mountains Monday 19 July Pamiers > Bagnères-de-Luchon 187 km
16 High Mountains Tuesday 20 July Bagnères-de-Luchon > Pau 196 km
R Rest Day Wednesday 21 July Pau  
17 High Mountains Thursday 22 July Pau > Col du Tourmalet 174 km
18 Flat Friday 23 July Salies-de-Béarn > Bordeaux 190 km
19 Individual time-trial Saturday 24 July Bordeaux > Pauillac 51 km
20 Flat Sunday 25 July Longjumeau > Paris Champs-Élysées 105 km

Cycling Oulles in October

5/10/2009 by tourdoisans

This is my favourite climb in the area and is accessible most of the year due to its south facing nature. It climbs over 7km and as you can see from the profile is steep and is good to ride from Bourg d’Oisans if you only have a shot window of time!

profile_oulles

Col de Parquetout via the Col d’Ornon

29/09/2009 by tourdoisans

For the first time since the begining of May we have not had any guests in so I took the oportunutity to try out a new route for our 2010 holidays. This 90 km ride takes in the Col d’Ornon first and then onto the Col de Parquetout (as used in the Marco Pantani Cycling Sportive in August) I followed the Col de Parquetout over the top and towards La Mure before taking a right and retracing my steps back over the Col d’Ornon and Bourg d’Oisans (or Col d’Ormon as it seems to be called on the other side) .  With effectively 3 cols this was a long and tough ride.

Col de Parquetout

Summit of Col de Parquetout

Col d'Ormon or is that Col d'Ornon

col_du_parquetout

Col d’Ornon – September

25/09/2009 by tourdoisans

We are coming to the end of our last Tour Week here in Bourg d’Oisans and today we took a ride up the Col d’Ornon.

 Col d'Ornon

With all the major cols still open we are taking last minute bookings for bed and breakfast basis until 25th October 2009 for just £35 per person per night in a twin room (single person supplement £10 per person per night) on a self supported basis. If you want to travel light we can also provide bike hire (various sizes from 50cm – 59cm).

We are also now taking booking for the winter skiing and boarding season for Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes.

Col d'Ornon

La Marmotte Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier – September

22/09/2009 by tourdoisans

Bit of a mad day here at Tour d’Oisans with 2 of our guests riding the full La Marmotte route, 3 guys riding the Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier and one guy just wanting to do the Col du Galibier. We managed to fit it in with a drive to the bottom of the Telegraphe in our minibus where we set 3 off. We then drove to the top of the Telegraphe where we let the last man off. I waited for them at the top of the Galibier where they all decided to descend back to Bourg d’Oisans. The two guys doing the full La Marmotte route finally arrived back after dark at 8:10 PM !

Approaching the top of the Col du Telegraphe

Col du Telegraphe

approaching the Col du Galibier from the north side

Col du Galibier