Endless possibilties

One really nice thing about living somewhere for a while is you have a chance to really get to know the region, in a much deeper way than you would just on vacation. I have seen all four seasons of Grenoble now, going back into summer for the second time. And although I've racked up a couple thousand kilometers (no joke!) biking in the area, I still keep finding new places.


Google maps is an amazing tool. I can just sit down and scroll around the roads around Grenoble, looking for new possibilities. And they seem to be pretty endless. Saturday's 99 km (so close to 100!) ride had me traversing under the Vercors balcony all the way to Monestier de Clermont. I didn't know anything about the height profile when I left, but there was a steep climb up to a spectacular view at Le Verney.

I meet lots of cyclist going down as I was going up, and at on point someone shouted 'C'est par là', which basically meant 'Your going the wrong direction'. So I guess there must have been some sort of race going on.


After Monestier de Clermont I took a large road through the valley back towards Grenoble. There was more fast moving traffic on this road, but it was a fast road to cycle on as well.

I took it really easy for the whole ride, just enjoying the view and taking plenty of small breaks. This was definitely nice, because I wasn't tired at all the next day. Building endurance, brick by brick!

I rounded off the weekend with a climb up to St Nizier followed by 30 km of descent. Check out the Strava tracks here and here.

Although I've had a nice weekend cycling, I can't say much for my running performance since Pic St Michel. My quads were shot for 3-4 days after the race, and then on Thursday I stupidly crashed my city biking, shoving my knee into the gravel and picking up a large, oozing scrape (I'll spare you the pictures). I think I might have bruised the bone, because it hurts when I try to run. So I might stick to cycling for a few more days until the pain clears up.

- The Wild Bazilchuk

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