Alps cycling day 1

What a day. Departed from France, cycled through Switzerland and back into France. Most of the ride was pretty smooth sailing. Tail winds, relatively flat. Many road works which took me around getting lost in Peron but that also passed. Though sh*it got real right before the extremely steep climbs to get into Chamonix.

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It was a sunny day. Beautiful views, seeing Mt Blanc from a distance and being overwhelmed by the amazing scenery.

I took my quick rest before the climbs and set off.

3 minutes in...... a massive flash of lightening appears in the sky towards the top of one of the mountain tops. A few seconds later... BOOM. The loudest thunder I've ever heard in my life. I was impressed but also terrified. A few moments later it start pouring down rain like crazy. A confusion of temperatures. The sun was scorching from a distance yet the cold rain from the mountains was falling. This change in temperature created this intense wind as all the hot air from the roads in the mountains cooled down and just rushed down the mountain pushing against me.

This little but intense thunderstorm only lasted for bout 15minutes which brought the sun out again. Unforeseen challenge #1 over.

I could see on my GPS I was 5km away from my destination with about 200m left of climbing to go. It was like "YEAH. Alps day part 1 almost complete. Good job bro"

Then, unforeseen challenge #2 presented its-self

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The frikkin route I had planned with my route planning app thought it would be a great idea to get on the highway.

Erm... No thank you.

I had to find another route, while trying to do it in the shortest possible way.

This is where I found myself pushing my bicycle up some extremely horrible pathways in the forest. I actually thought I was going to die at some point here.

I was not sure where this path would take me, let alone when it would end. But had to get on with.

When the pathway eventually seemed to come to a more normal route, I looked back and saw a sign which helped me understand why the route was so crap.

Supposedly this route wasn't even fit for hiking, let along pushing a loaded bike up it. Ah well. Thankfully this route presented its-self with some amazing scenery.

Eventually I made it to my destination with a big sigh of relief. Alps cycling day 1 over. Today some rest in the beautiful area of Chamonix and tomorrow the real climbs begin. Departure France, climb through Switzerland and descend into Italy. I do hope I am ready.