Velomobile Road Trip with Brigitte and Fritz (Day 23)

Day 23.

Villars-Colmars > Col d’Alloz > Barcelonnette

Today we only had to ride this one pass, the Col D'Allos. For this, it was about 22 km uphill. The road is relatively unimportant and therefore has little traffic. Some cyclists, motorcyclists and cars. The pass is closed to vehicles over three and a half tonnes. This has the advantage that only the smaller motorhomes can drive over.

Today I was fine after the early finish yesterday. The drive as such was without any special events. We could simply enjoy the landscape and the beautiful weather with bright blue skies and sunshine. The nice thing about this pass are the many serpentines and the open terrain on the south side. So you can look down on the road.

After a short break at the top of the pass, we started our descent. We had to stop a few times to cool down the brakes. That's just part of riding a velomobile in the mountains. Since there were always streams and small waterfalls, it was no problem to refill the water bottle to cool down. On the way, we took a break at a place without wind and enjoyed the panorama. The descent was quite impressive, as the slope down was always quite steep.

The road is not in good condition. There were often patches on the road and grit. There was only partial protection at the edge. It sometimes consisted of simple stone blocks or a wooden railing. In addition, the outer edge often sloped downwards. Overall, the pass is moderately difficult and recommended for connoisseurs. In Barcelonnette, it was time to shop and look for a campsite. The campsite advertised 4 stars. In our opinion, however, it had no more than 2 stars.