Sorry, I’ve been busy. I’m not a very good multi-tasker (even peanuts and beer together give me stress), so while all has been quiet on the blogging front lately, there has been plenty of activity on my winter project – bike tours.

In collaboration with my good friend (and new partner) John, I have finally gotten our first tour ready for the world to see. So, without further small talk, I present you with High Road 2013 (if you’d like more small talk, scroll down the page)!

The idea of the ‘High Road’ is to offer a different high altitude tour every couple of years, keeping the name, but changing the cols. We can’t see too far into the future with this yet, but I think it’s safe to say that the first few High Roads will be in the Alps and Pyrenees.

For 2013 we have gone with a classic route through (mostly) the Southern Alps, starting in the highest city in Europe – Briançon – and finishing at sea level, in Nice. Along the way there will be a few mythic ups and downs:

1. Col de Montgenevre (1854m)
2. Col de l’Echelle (1762m)
3. Col du Télegraphe (1566m)
4. Col du Galibier (2645m)
5. Col du Lautaret (2058m)
6. Col d’Izoard (2361m)
7. Col de Vars (2108m)
8. Cime de la Bonette (2860m)
9. Col de la Cayolle (2326m)
10. Col de Saint Raphael (876m)

Here is a profile graph of our ‘queen stage’ for the visual types.

Next Year’s High Road will be 7 days and 7 nights, around 560 km long, with over 10,000 meters of elevation gain. Accommodation is mostly 3 and 4 star, with a 5-star splurge on our last night in Nice (right on the Promenade des Anglais) – because we deserve it! Nearly every meal is included in the tour, along with snacks, water and energy supplements along the route.

Of course John and I will be there for every tour, catering to your whims and fancies (even if you have no whims, we’ll be useful – you need someone to drive the vans..).

We’ll be offering 4 High Roads next season, in June, July, August and September, with a price tag of €2750.

There is a lot more information on the tour page, as well as under the new tabs at the top of the site (FAQs, Why Ride With Us, etc). If you have any questions, or are interested in doing something very, very……very cool next summer, contact us.

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