Tour De Mont Blanc (Day 1)

Planning tools...

Despite Mont Blanc dominating the horizon for the last three months, I had never been grabbed by challenge of going up it (I have other ideas for that adventure) but was keen to tackle the Tour of Mont Blanc. A circumnavigation of the Mont Blanc Massif through 3 countries, the Tour is probably best known to walkers as a classic hiking route taking up to 10 days, for trail runners it's the route of the UTMB, the quickest doing it in little over 20 hours!
Having scoured maps and blogs over the last couple of months I had decided to tackle it on the mountain bike in an anti-clockwise direction over three days. Being a popular waking route I was waiting until September when the trails and huts should be a bit quieter and a favourable weather forecast. With a couple of good days weather foreacast for Thursday and Friday (20th & 21st September) and a wet day Saturday I decided to give it a go.

With the mountain huts starting to close for the season, places to stay were becoming more limited so I opted to make the first day a long day. Therefore an early start to catch the first lift up the Bellevue, the only bike friendly lift still running in the Chamonix valley, was called for. Joining the mountaineers heading for the Mont Blanc I got a few quizzical looks getting into the cable car with a


Nice hair!!

bike! From the top of Bellevue, I chose the fire roads and tarmac into the Contamines valley to save 
time, the cold fingers were also not up to the more technical alternatives. This was just about the only "wasted" descent on the whole tour but at least it only cost 11euros rather than a couple of hours of climbing! Still the descent went on and on and I began to wonder whether one spare set of brake pads would be enough for the trip ahead.

 
Into the Contamines valley it was a mix of road and tracks along the valley bottom to Notre Damn de la Gorge, the easy climbing giving me chance to warm up in the chilly morning shade.  The impressive building however marked the start of the steeper climbing up to Col du Bonhomme.
 

Notre Damn de la Gorge

Immediately I was forced to push... with 1200m of climbing to the Col this could be a long one!! Fortunately the track soon eased and I was able to ride for a bit, making better progress but still not much quicker than the hiker heading up to Col du Fenetre with his dog. With a heavier pack than normal and a loose track, it was a mix of riding and pushing to La Balme at 1700m. From here on though it was pretty much pushing and hike a bike to the Col at 2329m. Fortunately by now I was into the sun and enjoying the warmth and views. At about 2000m I started to hit ice on the trail and whilst not an issue on the climb was a little concerned about the descent ahead. Reaching the Col, I was rewarded with...more climbing!! Although only a rising traverse to the Refuge and Col de la Croix Bonhomme at 2433m, the rocky path offered no more than a few metres of riding at a time. FINALLY I reached the Col and the first proper descent of the trip. My fears of ice on the trail were shortlived as the sweet singletrack descended into the sunny valley and Les Chapieux 900m below.

 

From here it was a pleasant spin along the road to the Refuge des Mottets at 1870m. This would have been my planned stopped for the day if it had been open but as I had made good progress to here was glad to be heading on. From here it was time to shoulder the bike again up to Col de la Seigne at 2516m and the Italian border.

Another long climb but at least it was to be the last of the day! From the top of the Col it was a short (well for the alps!) descent of 400m to my accomdation for the night, the Refuge Elisabetta.

As I made the short climb to the hut I met the friendly hut guardian on his way to Courmayer for supplies, cheerily he said "It's open, just make yourself at home." With a only a few other walkers at the hut it had a good atmosphere, great views and hearty food.

Stats for the day:
Distance covered ~54km
Height Gained (with legs) ~ 2400m
Height Gained (with lift) ~ 800m

Plenty more photos here.