I wanted to tackle the Madeleine via Montgellafrey as I hadn't done this climb before. It is a little back road but not that quiet. On paper the climb is just 7.7% over 13km.

This climb is a nice little switchback road which means the descent, on foot, is fairly short.  The descent is down a steep track from the chapel and fairly quick.

Passo della Colma is 8.9 kilometers long for an elevation gain of 490 meters giving an average gradient of 5.1%. The climb starts near the historic town of Varallo, which is worth a detour.

Main climb was pleasant but still finding the very steep ramps hard. Little shake down of the bike after the trip.

It has been like winter this May. Rain, snow, cold, wind. Not very inviting. Finally a break in the weather, a bit unexpected and I decided to ride the Croix de Fer or Glandon.

1h25 for the loop but a bit tight as I only had 1h30 for lunch so had to push it after the climb.

Trip ReportTot reminded me that it was 5 years since we last skied at Chamrousse, at least alpine skied.

I parked up at la Grande Croix d'Aiguebelle. A hamlet at the entrance to the Maurienne valley. In the drought the river was dry but the fountain still worked.

A trip to Orta isn't complete without a Coiromonte. Well that is not really true but it is quite an interesting climb and only takes just over an hour.

Second big col of the spring campaign. This time we drove to Beaufortain as Mike finds the Albertville road uninteresting and very busy. He's not wrong. We too the back road to Arêches.