How do I get road conditions at Alpe d'Huez?

[Colin Campbell]

A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. We'll have
our pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.

I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road is
clear for bicycling.

Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will rent
bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. Is this the
right way to do this? We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble,
then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.

Any tips?

[DirtRoadie]

On May 3, 9:14*pm, Colin Campbell <cmca...@adelphia.net> wrote:
> A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. *We'll have
> our pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.
>
> I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road is
> clear for bicycling.
>
> Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will rent
> bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. *Is this the
> right way to do this? *We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble,
> then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.
>
> Any tips?

I can only offer a quick observation, Alpe DHuez is a ski station, a
village high on the mountain. As such, the road needs to be open for
access, even in the winter. This in contrast to "cols" which are
merely roads going over mountains and which are often closed during
the winter season. I expect you will be fine, if not necessarily warm.

DR

[Ted van de Weteringe]

Colin Campbell wrote:
> bike shop [...] they do not take reservations.

No problem at the end of May. The road won't be a problem either. It's a
freeway up the mountain and snow-free year round. If it has snowed
overnight, just climb in the afternoon.

> We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble,
> then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.

Did you already find a car rental place in the centre of Grenoble (not
the airport!) that is definitely open when you arrive...? There are also
regular bus services between Grenoble and Bourg. Search for Bourg then
select Bourg d'Oisans in the box "commune desservie" at
http://www.transisere.fr/horaires_ligne/index.asp?rub_code=6 Look for
lines including Grenoble, obviously. My impression is that you can just
walk out of the train station, look for the regional bus station and hop
on one of the buses to Bourg.

[Cracker]

Hopefully you found these websites:

http://www.cyclesetsports.com/chapitre1_en.html
http://www.cyclesetsports.com/chapitre17_en_1.html
http://www.cyclesetsports.com/form_en.html

Call these guys, maybe they can help:

http://www.cyclingclassics.com/contact.php
http://www.ecrinslodge.com/Summer/contact.html
http://uk.geocities.com/cannonjones@btinternet.com/cycling.htm




"Colin Campbell" <cmcampb@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:481d2999$0$3367$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. We'll have our
>pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.
>
> I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road is
> clear for bicycling.
>
> Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will rent
> bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. Is this the right
> way to do this? We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble, then
> renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.
>
> Any tips?

[Dan Gregory]

Colin Campbell wrote:
> A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. We'll have
> our pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.
>
> I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road is
> clear for bicycling.
>
> Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will rent
> bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. Is this the
> right way to do this? We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble,
> then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.
>
> Any tips?

http://www.alpineroads.com/grenoble.php#huez

[Colin Campbell]

DirtRoadie wrote:
> On May 3, 9:14 pm, Colin Campbell <cmca...@adelphia.net> wrote:
>> A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. We'll have
>> our pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.
>>
>> I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road is
>> clear for bicycling.
>>
>> Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will rent
>> bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. Is this the
>> right way to do this? We'll be taking a train from Milano to Grenoble,
>> then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.
>>
>> Any tips?
>
> I can only offer a quick observation, Alpe DHuez is a ski station, a
> village high on the mountain. As such, the road needs to be open for
> access, even in the winter. This in contrast to "cols" which are
> merely roads going over mountains and which are often closed during
> the winter season. I expect you will be fine, if not necessarily warm.
>
> DR
>
>
>
Well, I'm no expert on how mountain roads are maintained in snowy
climes, but it seems to me that the road could be passable for buses,
cars, and trucks, and still be less than ideal for two-wheeled vehicles,
if there are areas of packed snow and ice, or if there is sand on the
surface, or something like that.

We're hoping that the next three weeks works miracles in that regard.

[Colin Campbell]

Dan Gregory wrote:
> Colin Campbell wrote:
>> A friend and I plan to ride Alpe d'Huez at the end of May. We'll have
>> our pedals, shoes, and helmets, having come from a week at the Giro.
>>
>> I've looked at some Webcam shots there, but I can't tell if the road
>> is clear for bicycling.
>>
>> Also, we have found a bike shop in Bourg d'Oisans that says it will
>> rent bikes for the climb, but they do not take reservations. Is this
>> the right way to do this? We'll be taking a train from Milano to
>> Grenoble, then renting a car to get to Bourg d'Oisans.
>>
>> Any tips?
>
> http://www.alpineroads.com/grenoble.php#huez

Thanks, that's pretty nice stuff. I guess those "road bikers" are good
for something!

I was climbing Glendora Mountain Road in Southern California's San
Gabriel Mountains this morning, and the motorcycles were numerous and
noisy. Luckily, we started an 8 km descent at just the right time - the
motos didn't catch up until we'd reached the bottom.