We woke to rain and low clouds. But the forecast was for improvement – so a good excuse for a leisurely breakfast and a slow start. The views from La Grave of the glaciers high on La Meije were stunning, but too grey for pictures. But, sure enough the rain stopped, and Helen got dressed up in all her twinkly lights ready for the two scary tunnels just beyond the village. This time I managed an action photo of the twinkles in the final tunnel.

Above the tunnels we reached alpine pastures and the clouds started to lift.

After about 3 hours of effort and 600m of ascent we reached the Col de Lauteret – very pleased with ourselves. I had spent the past few miles hurling abuse at drivers climbing to the col with their shiny road bikes on the roof. You’re supposed to ride them! So I had to resist the urge to go round the car park and bollock the lazy posers. Smile nicely!

We celebrated at the cafe with the ‘menu du cycliste’ – a rich soup and bread, massive spaghetti bolognaise and fromage blanche – about 1500 calories! By a happy coincidence this was exactly what we had used on the way up.

A bit higher up the hillside and we reached an Alpine Garden. This was a beautiful spot with stunning views. At 2100m this was the highest point either of us had reached by bike. It also had a memorial to Robert Falcon Scott, who stayed on the Col in 1908 in training for his trip south.

Having spent two and a half days cycling up here we weren’t in a hurry to leave, but what goes up must come down, so, after more tea, we hurtled down to Briancon. Tomorrow is a day off before the passes over to Italy.

Helen’s track of day: Madness by Muse.
A favourite at spinning class when we are working hard on hill climbs and an obvious one for me today. And I am so glad I did some practice.