Mont Colombis - Remollon

Having ridden all the climbs around the Gap region of Haute Provance I saw Mont Colombis on the local cycle map... but it wasn''t on the road atlas nor on my sat nav! So not knowing what was in store I arranged a 120km ride for 16 riders on our first long hard day of riding that had Mont Colombis right at the turn point at 60km into the ride. Whoops! That was a mistake! The first part of the climb was not too bad, simply ride in your easiest gears and find a nice rhythm and your set. However... turn the very sharp right hander (quite difficult to realise this was in fact the climb as it looked more like a track and as very narrow) and you start the tough grades. A few km up the road the grades get steeper and steeper and eventually you find no rhythm. You run out of gears, you can''t stand for too long before having to stand and fight the pedals and your heart rate is at lactate threshold and above with your breathing heavy and heart pounding against your chest... all whilst turning slowly at 40-50rpm. I had a 39/25 and was under-geared for sure wishing for a 27 or 29! The last 5km average was 8+% and the last 3km 12+%! Go across the cattle grid and the last 2k is grinding pedal action! Hardest climb in Alps for sure!

My personal climb rating:

1 fois depuis Remollon sous la pluie, et 2 fois depuis Gap. Pour moi cest lascension la plus dure que jai faite. Meilleur en 1h20. La fin est tellement difficile que jai du poser le pied par terre les deux premières fois. Un conseil : Ne pas trop bourrer au milieu quand la pente sadoucit...

My personal climb rating: