Today’s ride was very much about pacing rather than testing myself.

Today’s objective was the Col de Chamrousse, part of the Échappées Iséroises series of closed-road climbs.

I wanted to do a Grand Col but have tendonitis so this is the nearest thing within easy reach of the house.

The Pre Long challenge. My rear tire is shredded and needs changing but I thought I'd give it one last outing on the Pre Long gravel.

Very hard climb due to bad back and a top gear that didn't engage properly. The road to the power station has been resurfaced for some reason, very smooth now.

Freezing today I rode as far as the snow although the road was clear to the fort. Cold hands and feet on the climb but warmed up a bit on the descent. St Eynard is certainly steep at the end.

A return to the Pre Long, maybe the hardest climb in the Gresivaudan, and that is just the surfaced bit ! A good time of 25m36s from le Mas Julien to the end of the surfaced road.

The climb from Lancey is in the shade in the morning, at least as far as le Mas Julien. Afterwards it is pretty exposed but the road to the power station at the head of the valley has been resurfaced.

From the center of Grenoble this climb is a hard 1000 meters + of vertical. According to the ClimbByBike website it is in the top 500 of alpine climbs for difficulty.