My bike was unscathed in the transport. It went together a lot easier than I thought it would. I’m a pessimist when it comes to me doing anything mechanical. I headed off to the Col du Galibier (Col du means mountain pass). It’s a rather prominent mountain pass that shows up in the Tour de France frequently. Some very famous cyclists have raced to the top of this hill. I think its beauty is in its simplicity. A clean open road of riding that has few distractions. It’s all about the climbing. A ride to me is always a bit more difficult the first time you do it because you don’t know what to expect. It didn’t feel all that tough which left me space to enjoy the ride – mostly a 5 to 7 % grade except for a short section on top that was 12%. Of course it was cool and started to rain on top but the rain stopped after a couple of miles of descent. I forgot to take with me some Euros or my credit card so I missed out on all the restaurants that said Crepiere on the front.