France: Grenoble to L’Alpe d’Huez and Lyon

Introduction: Trophy hunting in the French Alps

September 18th, 2017 tom After the end of my Croatia trip, I hopped over the Italic Peninsula to land in Lyon, France. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tholub/37599540504/in/album-72157662474500118/ One of my goals for my time in Europe was to ride some of the classic Tour de France climbs like L'Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux, and Lyon was the easiest connection from Croatia. I was…
France: Grenoble to Lyon via L'Alpe d'Huez

Day 1: I went up to the mountain… (Grenoble to Le Bourge d’Oisans)

September 19th, 2017 tom I took the afternoon train to Grenoble and stayed in a hostel downtown. At dinner that evening I was exposed to raclette for the first time [Ed: I'm shocked that there isn't someone in Oakland doing hipster raclette], but my stomach was still not great, so I had a light dinner and a light breakfast…

Day 2: Trophy hunting (Le Bourge d’Oisans to Moirans via L’Alpe d’Huez)

September 20th, 2017 tom The morning was cloudy, but I could see the clouds breaking up on the mountain, which was encouraging, It was also cold, particularly in my hotel room because the heat was not working, so I was motivated to get moving. My stomach felt almost normal and my energy was good. I could do this. I…

Day 3: Country, suburb, city (Moirans to Lyon)

September 21st, 2017 tom The morning was cool and clear, with a light wind coming from the south. I was heading north, so this would be my first real tailwind of the whole trip! After the (bad) hotel breakfast, I went into Moirans and has a couple of great pastries (Eclair au chocolat et tarte frambroise). The patisseries were…