Day 2 - The Rain Didn't Show

We gathered for our 9 AM departure with bikes and a variety of rain gear as the weather report promised rain in the mountains and in Grenoble, our destination.  We picked our way through the cars and round-abouts of Chambery before beginning our first climb, the Col du Granier, 15 km mostly in the 6 - 8% range.  Markham, Rick, Nick and I went off the front and paced each other up the long climb, with Markham and I reaching the top together.  A little light rain spattered us along the way, but nothing serious.  The wind and damp at the top quickly chilled us, so we added arm warmers and donned our jackets for a descent down wet pavement.  Abruptly, the sun came out,  and we rode into a picturesque little town with a patisserie and open air market featuring local strawberries.  Not having obtained any euros yet, I was left with stealing a couple berries from Chris and resolving to go to the first ATM I could find in Grenoble.  

A few of us took a side route out of town, through a gorge (the root of the word “gorgeous”) enjoying  a winding ride among stone cliffs, with a rocky stream far below and a great valley vista ahead.  By the time we returned to the little town and headed up our second climb of the day, our group was split into twos and threes, and Todd and I made the turn up Col du Cucheron together.  The designated road was closed for road repair, and we were re-routed to a secondary road, which, Nel explained, was longer and steeper, although I’m still trying to figure out how both facts could be true from one fixed point to another.  Anyway, we rolled over the summit and down a short descent into the town of St. Pierre-de-Chartreuse to find Rick, who had skipped the gorge route, finishing up lunch at a roadside café.  Todd and I eschewed lunch on the premise that we had one easy climb to go and we’d be in Grenoble by 2:00 PM with lots of food options.  Wrong!  The last climb seemed much longer and steeper than promised, and after the long 12 km descent into Grenoble, we wandered for another 1:15 hrs. looking for our hotel before being rescued by Rick’s Blackberry and a lead-in from Mike of Andiamo.  I had a serious food bonk on the way and headed for an ATM machine.