This is a good option if it is damp as the tow paths along the side of the Isere are well drained. You can ride as far as the Grenoble and beyond but pick up a surfaced path at Gieres going south.

Longish tour of the Gresivaudan valley with tot. The idea had been to take gravel trails to avoid the mud.

Climb to the Charmant Som this time on classic skis. There were no tracks. The climb to the Oratoire took 43m10, last time in March on classic skis was 36:36.

I arrived early at the Col de Porte as it has been rammed in previous weeks. Even before 9am there were quite a lot of cars.

A little tour with tot to get some air. The road was completely pisted by the passage of the hundreds of skiers, snow shoers, sledgers and every other kind of engine.

I'd heard the Chemin de l'Herse had been pisted at the weekend for cross country skiing.

Tot was moaning about the ski resorts being closed so I suggested we climb to the top of the ski runs at St Hilaire.

I'd seen the Sappey trails had been pisted. They only opened a couple of days last season so I decided to seize the day.

A little afterwork. I started around 16h30 from the car park at 1190 meters but it was no doubt possible to tour from much lower down, from the main road to St Pancrasse at 1000 meters even.

There had been considerable snow on Saturday, enough to ski in the valley. I saw les 7 Laux had opened its cross country ski area with all pistes open and on free access.