Grenoble Day 9 -10 - Aborted Col du Coq x 2, La Bastille Climb

Day 9 finally saw the weather getting back to normal so we decided to make the most of it. The plan for the day was a 60km loop into the Chartreuse mountain range to the north of Grenoble which we have yet to venture into. The loop for the day consisted of 2 main climbs up the Col du Coq and the Col de Porte. The commute out saw us crossing over the river to the north and following the edge of the mountain range until we got to the town of Saint-Ismier. It follows a bike path along the D1090 and all the way to Saint-Ismier however we initially found ourselves taking a wrong turn and accidently ended up on one of the national highways. Safe to say we could not have gotten out of there quickly enough. 

We finally made our way to the bike path and headed towards Saint-Ismier where we will make a left turn up into the mountain range towards the town of Saint-Pancrasse and the summit of the Col du Coq. Unortunately, about 200 metres from the turnoff, Benny had an issue with his rear derailler hanger resulting in the bike being unable to use the lower gears. Obviously not an ideal situation when your about to start climbing into the mountains. As a result we had no other option but to abort the ride for the day and search Grenoble for a bike shop to have the hanger replaced. 

Initially we made our way to a store called Pinsello in Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux which we had previously visited to pick up some new tyres. A pretty nice store but unfortunately they do not stock Cannondale and were unable to supply us with a new hanger however they were kind enough to point us in the direction of a shop called Neway in Echirolles on the other side of town. So we made our way across the town to Neway which turned out to be a pretty cool little bike store and the mechanics there were extremely helpful and the end result was extremely cheap. With a new rear derailleur hanger and the bike back up and running, we made our way back home. Unfortunately, the commute was through the remains of a storm which had come over while we were in the store.

With the bikes back in working order, we decided to give the Col du Coq / Col de Porte route another crack on Day 10. This time we made it to the turnoff from Saint-Ismier with no issues and began our ascent up to Saint-Pancrasse. On our way up one of the locals shouted something out to us but we could not understand what she was trying to tell us. About half way up the climb we discovered what she meant. The climb is currently undergoing significant road works. Despite this the road is still open and it didnt look to bad so we decided to continue in the hope we could get past it and continue on our way. Unfortunately this turned out to be a poor decision with all of our tyres getting completely covered in a thick, fresh, sticky coat of tar from the road. This then resulted in every loose bit of gravel on the road getting stuck to our tyre. We pulled over and tried to scrape as much of it off as we could but this proved to be harder then anticipated. We decided that if we kept on going hopefully the heat from our tyres would be enough to clean the tar off our tyres but we quickly realised this was not going to be the case. And with that, Col de Coq was abandoned for the second time in two days. We had to take the descent fairly easy to begin with as the loose gravel on our tyres made it rather slippery. Thankfully the heat from the descent managed to get most of the tar off our tyres and by the time we got back to our apartment they were not to bad. 

As a result, me and Andrew were determined to get in some climbing for the day. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try the brutal climb up to the Fort De La Bastille. The climb is to the right hand side of the mountain when facing the mountain from Grenoble. To get to it you cross over the river and head towards La Tronche until you come across the Chemin de la Bastille. The climb is a 2km stretch of road which averages over 13% with sections that are over 30% gradient. This makes for a real leg burner and even on my gearing setup I had to grind at a pretty low cadence through signifcant points of the climb. Despite this, it was well worth the trip up and a much more satisfying way of visiting the top of the Bastille then the cable cars we had previously ventured up on. Definitely worth a crack.

All in all, not the couple of days we had planned but Day 10 still produced a great ride none the less. With the brutal climb up the Bastille behind us, it was time for another trip to our favourite place in town, the London pub. Another great night out in Grenoble which ended in a trip to the hospital for Tommy after having his arm slammed in a wooden door. Thankfully nothing is broken however it may affect our plans for a few rides we have coming up.