The Col des Aravis is open, a whiteout, and a close brush with hypothermia …

OK, here’s today’s ride …

“Uh oh, what have I got myself into?” I mumbled to myself halfway up the Col des Aravis.

It was chilly and getting colder by the kilometer. It was also quite cloudy. Or maybe it was mist. Or fog. Or some strange combination of the three that made my glasses fog/mist/cloud up and it was hard to see. I could hear cows ringing their bells in the nearby fields, but couldn’t see them. 

I was starting to shiver a little bit. “Uh oh … hypothermia?”

The Aravis is supposed to be one of more scenic mountain climbs in this region (the Haute-Savoie region of the Northern Alps). It’s a 16.5-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 4.8 percent, which isn’t that steep compared to some of the other culs. But it’s one of the longer climbs.

Off I went, from Annecy, where it was in the high 50s and kind of sunny with some scattered clouds (that was my impression of a weatherperson). Up and then down the Col de Bluffy (short, but steep) and then the start of the Aravis climb. The higher I got … the colder and whiter the sky got. It wasn’t exactly drizzling, but the clouds/mist/fog were so thick I was getting wet. It reminded me of that frigid day back in 2010 when I got caught in a snowy whiteout at the top of Mont Ventoux and got hypothermia. Hypotherima is no joke and is dangerous. You start to shiver and shake and can barely hold onto your handlebars and use the brakes, which is dangerous on a long downhill.

I kept going. Why? Stubbornness perhaps, with a blend of “No, way, it can’t happen again, it’s not cold enough, right?” Plus, what else was I gonna do? I’m here to ride.

Fortunately, I was right, and my inner core temperature hovered just below the hypothermia line all the way to the top. 

And the views were …

Impossible to see. It was a white out. Which raises the question: If you ride to the top of the Aravis, but can’t see anything, where you really even there? I’m gonna say yes.

The ride down was, of course, a lot faster, and colder. I stopped at a café for a big cup of hot tea. It helped a bit.

I made it back to Annecy, where it was at least 10 degrees warmer than up at the top of the Aravis and much clearer, and took such a long, hot shower. It was such a long, hot shower that eventually the hot water ran out. Who the hell else in this place is taking a shower at 3:15 in the afternoon?

While the day didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, it was still a good day. I’m in France, I climbed a couple cols, battled the elements, overcame fatigue and shivers and made it. 

Strava said the ride was 44.24 miles with 3,485 feet of climbing. However, for some reason, it didn’t include the first 12 kilometers and the climb up the Col de Bluffy. So it was actually about a 52 miles ride with about 3,800 feet of climbing. That’s a lot of climbing. I wish I could have enjoyed or even seen the views. Hopefully tomorrow, it’s another day and another col or two.