Departure: Saint-Paul-Sur-Ubaye
Length: 9.3 km
Altitude: 2,109m
Height Gain: 645m
Average Gradient: 7.5%
Maximum gradient: 10.6%
Below is an extract from my book, 'Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round'. It briefly describes my first of two ascents up the Col de Vars. Both were very late in the day, after I'd ridden almost 150 kilometres.
Like Bonette, the Col
de Vars was very easy to begin with, just a gradual and steady climb, but the
gradient became steeper and steeper, with lots of hairpins the closer I got to
the top. By the time I reached the summit I was pretty spent, and without a
drop of water. Thankfully, there was a bar-restaurant that hadn’t quite shut up
shop for the evening and I was able to grovel to the woman behind the counter
to refill my water bottles. The rather displeased look on her face made me
think that I wouldn’t have got a drink for anything less.
The final 24 kilometres
was, luckily, downhill all the way, and it wasn’t too long before I reached our
night’s accommodation in the charming little of Eygliers. As the view from our
hotel window at La Taverne du Roy testified, we were well and truly entrenched
in the heart of the Alpes de Haute-Provence...
The descent down the other side, eventually towards Guillest |
Books by Mark
Krieger:
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
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