Today started well. I awoke earlier than I had previous mornings but rested. I got under way at a bit before 7am under grey clouds that appeared to be breaking up. At about 9am I found a nice spot on the side of the road and made myself porridge and a cup of tea. The Sun came out a little and the weather gave even more signs of improvement. It was feeling a little warm, at least by comparison with earlier days.
I followed the Bonne river up to Entraigues and started to prepare myself for the col d'Ornon. As I went up it both the weather and my leg improved. Or maybe my mind was on the glorious views, now that the all covering clouds were almost gone or just the nice feeling of sun on my skin. The mountains had a different character than the Vercors, I couldn't really see much of the Chatreause. I was now arriving in the high mountains, it was exciting!
At the top there was a restaurant with a gite d'étape and rooms, it looked very reasonably priced. Why do I never come across this kind of place when I'm looking for it?
On the way down from the pass I saw loads of cyclists. I guess this is to be expected so close to Bourg-d'Oisans, a cycling mecca. Seeing all these aluminum, fibre and titanium bike riders made me think about reconsidering my earlier decision to skip the Alpe d'Huez, on the grounds that it might exacerbate the knee problem. At the time I thought that if I was going to kill my knee, a small exaggeration but perhaps true for the purpose of the holiday, then I would do so to see the TdF. Now with the weather so nice those thoughts went out the window. I started the climb at 1:50 and arrived at the top at 3:40, a lot slower than the likes of Pantani or Armstrong and even most others doing so at the same time as me. However I was faster than some, even on there light bikes! After picking up a certificate and getting my photo taken I headed down the mountain via Villard-Reculas, over a really attractive road that seemed to only just be touching the mountain. The sense of flying down the mountain was very real
Back in the valley I started the steep climb up towards the col de Glandon. I had thought that I might be able to cross it and the col de Croix-de-Fer today but that had been before adding back the Alp d'Huez to the schedule, the conclusion can wait for tomorrow . At 6pm had reached le Rivier d'Allemont. I could see that it was my last chance to buy something to eat before the crossing and possibly a place to stay. There was a gite which looked nice but being Monday it was closed. I made a spur the moment decision to get a bite to eat at the only open café in the village, it was a very small place, I think I was lucky there was even a café. A lovely lady provided me with a nice soup and crepe, her husband advised me on places where I could wild camp. They even provided me with the milk that I needed to cook my porridge in the morning. A couple of kilometres up the road I found the place where I am now. It would be impossible to pitch a tent but my hammock went up fine, though we'll see how the night goes. If I haven't got the attachment knots right it will be an uncomfortable landing on the ground.
Distance - 107km
Time - 8:01
Max Altitude - 1770m
Tot. Ascent - 3073m
Col d’Ornon – 1367m
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