July 16, 2023
Sallanches -> Martigny
Chamonix, then back into Switzerland
I woke up to my alarm at my stealth camping site. 6:00am. Rule #1 of stealth camping: get there late, leave early. I put on my spare pair of bike chamois, and had to rewear everything else dirty. I jumped in a nearby lake (that was surprisingly warm) to wash the sweat off and feel somewhat clean. I then had to use a bathroom by the lake. This public bathroom had something I had never seen in person before: a squat toilet. Basically a porcelain hole in the ground with foot rests to squat. I actually didn't mind using it.
I then google mapped a nearby bakery for breakfast. I found one that was on the way to Chamonix. Along the way to the bakery was signage marking the TDF stage that will happen in a few days. There were lots of cyclists and cycling teams training on this road. I got breakfast at the bakery, and was thankfully able to stay dry as a passing thunderstorm went by (at 8:30 am). I got a baguette with salami, a croissant custard pastry, and a chocolate mousse cake. They were all delicious.
I made my way up to the top of the pass before Chamonix. This was a really nice low-traffic road (D13), as it parallels the main freeway. Right as I got to the top of the pass, I realized I had left my bike lock (with the key in it) at the lake where I had gone for my morning swim. I had alreay climbed 2000 feet and was not about to go back for it. Besides, someone may have already taken it. Thankfully the first bike shop I went to had the exact model of bike lock I previously had, and it fit right in the holder I had mounted on my bike.
Chamonix is absolutely beautiful. Mt Blanc towers so high and steep over the valley that it is actually difficult to get a good view of the whole mountain from Chamonix. You do, however, get a good view of the impressive glaciers carving their way down the mountain slope. The city itself is beautiful, but in my opinion, is kind of a tourist trap. Lots of Americans and other foreigners there.
I found a park to eat the rest of my leftover salami baguette I had saved. I then made plans to take a gondola part way up Mount Blanc. However, a quick google search showed that the gondola to the top of Aiguille du Midi was closed due to high wind. I decided instead to take the gondola to the top of Le Brevent, on the oposite side of the valley. This ended up being the better choice, as you got a view of Mt Blanc in it's entirety. It was also half the price.
I had a low-effort summit beer from the snack bar at the summit, and enjoyed the view for about an hour. After freezing in the cold wind, I headed back down. From Chamonix, I still had a fair bit of climbing to do. I had to climb Cul des Montets, and Route de Echelle (both are on the TDF route). The first climb to Cul Des Montets was no big deal. The grade was mild, however there was a lot of car traffic. It was clearly a popular bike route, as many other cyclists were out on the road. About half way up the climb, I stopped at another bakery for second lunch. This time I got a prosciutto baguette with strawberry cream pastries. At this point, I have tried enough bakeries in Germany, France, and Norway to say that France has by far the best baked goods out of the three. Nothing beats the quality and value of a French bakery (although I do love a good German mett broetchen).
I descended from Cul Des Montets for a bit, crossed the swiss border, and then Komoot had me split off onto a side road: Route de Echelle. With lack of better vocabulary, was extremely gnarly. A one lane paved road twisting it's way up a mountainside. The climb AVERAGED 15% for several kilometers, meaning that there were sections that I guess were as steep as 30%. On some sections, my back tire was skidding out as I was peddling out of the saddle while leaning way over my handlebars just to stay upright. The grade was approaching the physical limitations of what a bike could go up.
After I made it to the top, I had a small descent to the town of Finhaut. This town had a statue and sign denoting that it was a TDF route town. For some reason, I thought I hadn't yet done enough climbing for the day, so I decided to go up to Lac d'Emosson. This road had a slightly less steep average slope of 9.8 percent. However, after 1.5 kilometers, my legs had had enough. I turned around and descended to my destination in Martigny. The descent down was fast and fun, and check in to the campsite went smoothly.
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 1,133 miles (1,823 km)
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