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Has anybody been road cycling in Annecy lately?
Will be in Annecy for six nights in September and have a road bike hired. Lots of information online available but would be interested if anyone has any tips or recent experience.
Most likely I'll only be able to get 2 days of riding in so would be good to know if there are any "can't miss" climbs or routes given the limited time to ride. I'd like to ride Col de Colombiere but not sure how much of a big day out that will be or not.
Also if anyone knows what the temperatures at the top of the local climbs may be like, I'm assuming arm warmers and gilet may be needed at the very least..
How far/high are you wanting? I did a lap of the lake with an ascent of the col De Forclaz. The views from the top are stunning https://www.strava.com/activities/9154940208
Don't miss doing Le Semnoz from the town. There's a few routes up. Sort of thing you could do in a morning if you can extend your two day window. It's what I did then was free to spend rest of the day with Mrs. It's a really good tough climb and views over towards Mont Blanc are stunning. Depending on how big a ride or if you're willing to drive I'd say Cormet de Roselend should be near the top of list, that was a stunner.
I always check this guy's site for info in the mountains
https://www.cycling-challenge.com/
Temperatures could vary wildly. It can be over 30 degrees some days down by the lake in early September. It'll be cooler later in the month. It'll be much cooler at the top of a big col. I like riding at this time of year. But take clothes options. If you choose your day well, it'll be like a summer ride with a cold portion in the middle (maybe with random hail, esp later in the afternoon). Otherwise, it'll be like a spring ride with a very cold bit in the middle (but probably no hail).
The classics riding out from Annecy are le Semnoz and Col de la Forclaz (see previous answers!). I've never been to le Semnoz (sorry). I think la Forclaz is an "easier" climb from the Talloires side. But raw stats don't really back that up. It works well in a lake loop (go anti clockwise, so up the Montmin side) from Annecy. Or as an out and back (up and back down the Talloires side).
Col de la colombiere is a big day out (for normal people, anyway). But it's a great climb. And a dry day in September is a good time to ride it. It'll be quiet, and you won't get the full summer radiator effect off the rocks in the top few km on the Northern (le reposoir) side. The shortest loop is 65km, just that one col, using the Borne Valley road (via Entremont etc). Clockwise would climb the le reposoir side (which is the longer, harder side, used as a decisive finish in tdf finishes to Le Grand Bornand). Anti-clockwise would take you up the Chinaillon side (which is the easier side, generally used mid stage in the tdf on long multi day stages finishing in e.g. Morzine). I recommend clockwise (grinding up the Borne valley is a waste of your limited time...and I suspect you want to climb the col via le reposoir side anyway). In recent years, the tour has been tackling the colombiere via the Col de Romme just to make this climb even harder. So that's a possible detour / hardening for you to consider. To get on this loop you could drive to e.g. St Jean de Sixt or St Pierre en Faucigny to park up and ride just the loop. Or from Annecy for a longer day ride out over the Col des Fleuries, then back via Thones at the end of the day.
Lots of other cols nearby like Aravis, la Croix Fry (you can loop these with Forclaz for a longer ride) or further afield Saisies, Roselend, Joux-Plane, the smaller ones between Annecy/Albertville etc. If you have two days, a lake/Forclaz ride and the Colombiere are good accessible choices. Each of those rides can be as long/hard as you like by adding adjacent loops, or just a simple loop with one main event.
I have asked a friend who lives nearby. He asked how much climb (D+) you can do in a day?
I quote:
“La Forclaz is great. But quite modest.
Around 2000-2500 d+, there are brilliant loops to ride.”
Last time I was there I had two big days out. One was doing a tour of the lake via Forclaz and Semnoz clockwise
https://www.strava.com/activities/1800463580
And the other one, which was a bit of a beast, followed the route of the 2013 Etape du Tour. You'll be able to find a GPX of it online. It was a big day out, but I enjoyed it apart from having to descend Semnoz in a thunderstorm with only one working brake.
Here's my route
https://www.strava.com/activities/1809969642
Try the Arpettaz if you fancy a proper climb. The refuge at the top is open until the end of September and does excellent lunches.
Hi All
Thanks so much for all this, lots of great info here! Really appreciated 👍
Yes, good question above- not sure how many miles and feet I will be willing to do on holiday when I'm with the Mrs and have a pass-out 😀 I think for my biggest day out I could spare 5-7hrs so guess (off the top of my head) I could stretch to 70miles and 6-7,000ft of climbing. Other than that I will aim for another one or two short (3hrs or so) rides early doors.
I'll take a look at the above and figure out what works and all being well come back and post some photos later in September.
I booked a rim-brake Scott Addict from the hire shop but the thought of alpine descents potentially in the rain is making me wonder if I should see if they have a spare disc model to upgrade to.
What would the local experts think of a trip from Annecy to the Gliere plateau?