Col de la Croix de Fer/Col du Galibier
(Part 3)

I hurriedly gobbled up the ham and cheese sandwich from a lively café in St. Jean-de-Maurienne and, despite the pleasant sunshine tempting me to stay a little longer, hurriedly pushed off for the run to the base of the next pass, the 5,100-foot Col du Télégraphe. To get to St.-Michel-du-Maurienne, where the climb began, I had to ride through a busy 15-mile stretch of highway set amidst an uninspiring industrial area. But the road was flat, well-paved, and, importantly, with a bike lane, and consequently was negotiated quite easily. The sign up ahead said Télégraphe was 11 kilometers away, while Galibier is a still-distant 35 kilometers. I tried to focus on the immediate climb ahead and ignore the spectre of Galibier.

(Below: The flat road between St. Jean-du-Maurienne and St. Michel-du-Maurienne)

Col du Télégraphe, a second-category climb in this year’s Tour, was a fairly easy pass (between 4.5-6% in most places). The first third of the climb was residential, and I felt as if I was riding in and out of people’s driveway. The view was rather disappointing. But a little higher up the houses disappeared, replaced by aspen and pine trees on both sides of the road. This woodsy stretch provided welcome shelter from the heat of the early-afternoon sun, but also limited one’s view of nearby peaks.

(Above and Below: The roads to Col du Telegraphe)

Approximately 2 miles from the summit, a perky, fresh-looking rider with a thick French accent caught up with me and engaged me in a conversation about riding the cols in the Alps, the Central Massif, and the Pyrénées. He kept pushing the pace and I was forced to keep up (later, I found out to my mild annoyance that he’d driven his car to the summit of Galibier, from where he’d ridden down to St.-Michel-du-Maurienne, turned around, and started climbing). A huge "Arrivée" banner at the summit of a left bend on the road heralded Col du Télégraphe. A few Swiss and German riders were posing for summit photos. Otherwise, there was very little to write home about this pass. I had an ice-cream cone to combat a slight feeling of sugar deficiency, and was instantly swept with nostalgia, the ice-cream bringing back memories of "ice-cream hill" on the summit of Mama Bear in Berkeley’s Grizzly Peak Century, a ride which I missed for the first time in the last 7 years. We rode the short descent down the other side of Télégraphe. For the first time, my body started sensing fatigue, and it started sending signals that there may be trouble ahead…

(Above: At Col du Telegraphe, approximately 5,150 feet)