Monday 5 August, we’re on the way to Valloire. Hotel reserved for the evening in Les Verneys. In the afternoon a little reconnaissance by car to Plan Lachat – the climb is less hard if you know the profile.

Tuesday morning, big thunder-storm but as soon as the rain stops the Mistress of Frimousse will start the ascent. A stop is planned at Plan Lachat, another at the Granges du Galibier and a third at the tunnel – it is better for morale to plan stops than to have to stop unexpectedly. Very heavy rain before reaching Plan Lachat, but Frimousse’s Mistress is not the only one to get soaked! Then everything goes as planned. The last kilometer between the tunnel and the pass is particularly hard, but it is the summit.

We sleep in Serre-Chevalier-Chantemerle. The chain of the bike jumps at times and we decide to leave the bike with a repairman, who promises it will be ready in the evening. It’ll be a day’s rest to reconnoitre Isoard Pass by car.

The repairman, amazingly, did not solve the problem but made everything worse. The bike will have to stay on the small chainring using only the three largest cogs… For the passes, it will do. Thursday morning, therefore, departure from Cervières for the top of the pass. And everything will go well.

For Friday I decide the Mistress of Frimousse to climb col du Galibier from col du Lautaret rather than Alpe d’Huez from Bourg-d’Oisans because it takes more than an hour to go to Bourg-d’Oisans, and it’s at 800m altitude and it will be very hot. Finally she climbs on her bike 3km before the summit of Lautaret (alt. 1840) to warm up. A planned stop to drink halfway up and everything will go perfectly.

Very happy, the Mistress of Frimousse. And especially boosted for the next climbs. She gained the confidence that she lacked.