Kissena Altitude Training Camp - update

On Friday August 9th, Jeff Condon and Anthony Ott are flying into Milan and driving a rental car 3 hours to meet me in St. Jean de Maurienne in the south of France. From there we are riding for three days and plan on hitting several of the classic Alpine climbs including Col de Croix de Fer, Col de Galibier, Alpe d’Huez, and whatever else our legs allow. 

On Monday we head to the Italian side of the Alps to stay in Susa. From there we will hit the Col de Finestre as well as a climb that has never been featured in a Grand Tour, but has been reviewed as spectacular: Colle de Nivolet. 

Here is a taste of some of the climbs:

On Wednesday the 14th, Anthony and I return home while Jeff heads to the Lake Como area to ride the climbs of the Giro di Lombardia. 

By the end, we expect to be totally exhausted but with permanent grins on our faces. 

Jeff, Anthony and I had a great time in the Alps last week. I am sure they will have some of their own stories to tell. Here are some highlights and some photos. I brought a GoPro with me and may also post some video when I have time to do so.

We started our trip in St Jean de Maurienne in the French Alps. This was the start town for the tour stage that got abruptly shortened at the Iseran this year. We chose this town because it is close to a number of classic climbs. The town gives out cycling specific route maps and even hosts a website where you can download GPX files for the climbs. Pretty cool. We stayed at the Hotel St. George which caters to cyclists and motorcyclists. It had a couple of cool amenities like a garage to lock up the bike, showers to use post ride (after we had already checked out), and a free laundry service to clean your kit. 

St Jean de Maurienne loves cyclists



They wanted us to remember the tour had just been in town.



Kissena kit getting ready for another day

Our five day adventure through the Alps was supposed to start on Friday, but was delayed to Saturday when Jeff’s Delta flight was cancelled, forcing him to arrive a day later. He and Anthony were flying into Milan and were supposed to meet up where Jeff would rent a car and drive to St Jean de Maurienne. Anthony, who had never been to Europe, was able to get to the small town to pick up his rental bike, but there was no easy way for him to get to France so I drove 3 hours each way to pick him up. Our first day was a non-starter. 

On Saturday morning, Anthony and I headed up the Croix de Fer via the Col de Glandon. This amounted to about 40 miles with over 6000 ft of climbing. The last couple of K were shrouded as the peaks were in the clouds. It was a great workout but the lack of a view kept us hungry for more. 

Things were starting to look foggy

First the Glandon

Then the Croix de Fer

The actual steel cross was barely visible (but check out that blue belly!)

We got back to the hotel at noon when Jeff arrived and got his bike set up. We decided to head up the Col de Madeline via the Lacets and Col de Chaussy. The Lacets are a gorgeous set of switchbacks.  The secret path to the overlook above the switchbacks was worth finding. After Anthony sprinted to the top of the Col de Chaussy he turned back to the hotel while Jeff and I headed the additional 13 km to the top of the Madeline giving us over 8000 ft of climbing in just under 50 miles of riding. 

The Lacets were beautiful



Climbing the Lacets



Did I mention it was hot?



Col de Chaussy



The French climbs had markers, so you knew how much suffering you had to do. The Italian climbs kept you guessing. I couldn't decide which I preferred.



Madeline selfie



Madeline summit



Jeff descends like Nibali

On Sunday we headed out to the Col de Telegraphe and Galibier. 

This year, the Tour went over the Galibier from the south side and ended in Valloire, where they had some cool hay sculptures.

The climb up the Galibier was tough because we had a headwind thought much of it. All our suffering when climbing was rewarded with spectacular views and riveting descents. 

The requisite shot

Just wow

The above is the Galibier, but we all agreed that descending the Telegraph was freaking awesome. It’s almost as if the road switchbacks were designed to be ridden by cyclists with no fear. 

The Galibier is such a popular climb that there were photographers at the side of the road from whom you could buy their pictures of you climbing. I couldn’t help myself. 

Jeff and Anthony had hoped to climb Alpe d’Huez after Galibier Sunday, but given that had ridden over 60 miles and climbed over 8,500 ft, driving an hour an a half away to get in another epic climb would have to wait for another trip. Missing out on riding Friday meant something had to go, and this trip it was the Alpe. Sunday night we headed to Susa, Italy and checked in at the Hotel Napoleon. This too was a cyclist and motorcyclist hotel, although there were plenty of motorcycles, while we were the only ones on bikes. 

Welcome to Susa

Charming town

We awoke on Monday to stormy clouds but nevertheless headed 1.5 hours north to ride the Colle del Nivolet, which cycling-challenge.com insisted was the most beautiful climb in the Alps. We were not disappointed. This climb was more beautiful than the Galibier. What we hadn’t realized was that it was the site of this year’s Giro stage 13 to Ceresole Reale. Even thought the race took place two months ago, there were still plenty of pink bikes and other signs celebrating the Giro. One benefit of riding a Giro route is that what the above website described as a poorly paved farm road had been newly repaved. Given the reported 15% grade, it was much appreciated. 

Jeff taking pictures of Patrick

Patrick taking pictures of Jeff

The Giro stage from June was everywhere

He didn't ride the Giro, but Bernal has a fan club in Locana. Probably because he was on Androni-Giacottoli before he was with Sky/Ineos

Even the house in the back salutes the Giro

RedBeard was here

On two separate occasions we thought that rain would cut Monday’s climb short. A few K from the summit the heavens opened up and we ducked into a restaurant and had the most expensive Antipasto we’ve ever eaten. They were taking advantage of us, but we were cold and wet and appreciated the opportunity to wait til the rain passed. I only realized later that this restaurant was 200 meters from the Giro stage finish line. When we left the restaurant the sky cleared up and we finished our ascent. (Because we were in a national park, the Giro did not climb to summit - we climbed higher than they did). Last note on this climb was the descent. We literally descended for 25 miles with only a few short rises on the way back to the car. We had not realized that even the run into the “real” climbing had been a false flat. It was crazy how we could descend for so long. It was also amazing how quickly I would forget how long we had been suffering on the climbs. We totaled about 50 miles with over 7000 ft of climbing. 

Yum



The three of us



Are those rainclouds?



Reaching the damn



This climb is insane



The summit



The view



Shakedry jacket was perfect for the chilly descents



Anthony learned to descend like a madman



The descents were awesome

It was probably a good thing that I could forget the pain as the final day together we climbed the Colle del Finestre, made famous by Froome’s stage 19 Giro winning attack last year. This is a brutal 19K climb that started less than a mile from the entrance of our hotel. Not only did we not get to warm up, but the initial hairpins were unforgiving. I regretted not having an easier gear than my 34x28. The last 7k of this climb are on gravel. I got fewer pictures of this climb for the simple reason that the first part never leveled off long enough to take a picture and was so wooded that there were never any vistas to take pictures of anyways. 

Yes, that is gravel

Can you spot Anthony?

Can you spot Jeff?

Summit!

The summit

The descents reward us for all that climbing

Still looks like Nibali

Welcome to Sestriere

Almost done!

On Wednesday, Anthony and I were on planes heading back to NY while Jeff headed to the Lombardia region for even steeper slopes. This was a great trip and I am already thinking about other European cycling trips in other areas. Hopefully these stories and photos will inspire you to find your own adventures on dramatic roads far from home. 

AndrewJohnson said:

Playing catchup. Anthony told me about the trip while traveling off to CX races together. Looks awesome. I mentioned to him about having friends/teammates etc... come to Tuscany and ride. I have a bike sitting at my sisters place (she lives about an hour south of Florence - via car/train/bus), with some cycling clothes (shoes/helmet) etc... If there is interest I can start looking into it. Mid/LateMay into early June and Mid September are probably the best times to go before the place becomes a hellhole of tourists and crazy temps.

RichFreeman said:

I'd like to ride the Maratona but doing the Etape again this year.