Four lifelong mates from Manchester. One last ride of the year — three legendary climbs: Alpe d’Huez, Col de la Croix de Fer, and Col du Galibier.
From freezing rain to surprise open cafés, from laughter to numb fingers — this three-day Alpine adventure had it all.
0:00 Intro
0:19 Day 1: Alpe d’Huez — closed cafés and survival on the switchbacks.
1:11 Day 2: Croix de Fer — relentless rain, snow-dusted peaks, and a miracle café at the summit.
4:10 Day 3: Galibier — blue skies at last, epic views, and the perfect finale to a season on two wheels.
This isn’t just a cycling trip — it’s friendship, endurance, and the madness of chasing one more climb (and one more café) before autumn.
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Four lifelong mates from Manchester.
One last ride of the year, Alpe d’Huez, the Croix de Fer, and the Galibier.
We battled the weather, the climbs, and every open cafe along the way.
It’s cold. I’m getting back in the van. That’s a punchy start, huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Day one of the tour and we are
climbing up Alpe d’Huez. Currently on Bend 16 filled up with water. Just
waiting for the four guys to come up. Okay. Day one Alpe d’Huez survived barely and every
cafe we passed closed. Let’s see what day two has in store. Hopefully fewer locked doors.
Day two. I’m in Allemond. Four cyclists are riding along the river to Allemond for
a coffee and then they’re heading up the Croix de Fer. The weather’s pretty epic today.
It’s wet, cold, no wind at the moment. Not sure what the top of the Croix de Fer is going to
be like. We’ll find out later. Transferred to a bigger van so I can get people in and
out. You missed the posh cafe then. Yeah. No left. Right. Thank you. Hello. Hello. right. Nearly done. You’re nearly done. Wo, it’s cold and it’s raining.
There is snow on the mountains. I am at the junction for the col du Glandon
and the col de la Croix de Fer. Guys are pootling up. They just had some lunch. Uh
when they get to this point, they’ll have 2 and 1 half km to go and then it’ll be a quick
get off this mountain because you don’t want to be standing around in this too long, especially
in Lycra. Straight up, unless you want to wait. just there…. cafe’s open, huh? Cafe’s
open. Oh thank god for that Wasn’t expecting that. photo here. All right.
Oh, there you are. Yeah, the cafe’s open. Phil, can we leave you to
Here we go. Thank you. Thanks. keep going. Keep going. Yep. Day two, cold and wet. Then a cafe at the top
of the Col de la Croix de Fer saves the day. Galibier tomorrow. Same luck. Day three. We
are in a very chilly and very quiet Valloir. Four degrees. Guys are having a coffee in a
cafe that we found open and we are heading up and over the col du Galibier. Believe the summit
is closed so we’ll be going through the tunnel today. Uh there’s lots of snow on the top of
the mountains so it should be an epic day. That way. Yeah. Keep going. 6k into the Galibier and the day couldn’t be any
more different than yesterday. Beautiful blue sky, still a bit fresh, 9°, but
at least there’s no rain. This is more like it. I’m going in. Yeah. Yeah. Cafe. Is this the cafe.
Yeah. We are on the col du Lautaret. I’m going to get a quick coffee and then start heading
back down to le Bourg d’Oisans. Day three done. Imagine racing down from the Lautaret
towards Bourg d’Oisans. Breathtaking views, wind in your face. If you enjoyed the ride,
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1 Comment
Thanks for watching. Have you ridden in cold wet weather in the Alps ? Let me know below 👇