Chamonix to Martigny (Forclaz) - 8 mile climb @ 8%

I set out to add some distance to the last Suisse ride by climbing the other side of Col de la Forclaz.  The route is the same as "Col des Montets and Col de la Forclaz", however I continued down the other side in the town of Martigny.  There were probably less than a couple dozen cyclists I saw on the entire route, most on the Col des Montets section.

At the top of Foclaz as I began my descent I took the photo below overlooking Martigny.  My first thought was, "oh boy, that looks like a ways down".  Which the follow on thought on an out-and-back course is, "dang, that's a good climb", andof course I'll be facing that in a matter of minutes.

Similar to the other photo, but look behind the trees to the right and you'll see another village around hill.

8 miles later I near the bottom of the descent.  While it's not easy to see in this picture, there are vineyards on both sides of the road.  Matter of fact the vineyards are on both sides of the rode for the first 2 miles of the climb out. 

While in Martigny I refilled a bottle at the Italian restaurant in the pink building.  The vineyards can clearly be seen from here. 

Route and Elevation:

	Distance			Elevation		Grade
Cat	Start	End	Length	Min	Max	Avg.	Max
	0.34 mi	4.20 mi	3.85 mi	3,449 ft	5,358 ft	9.4%	--
	12.47 mi	16.98 mi	4.51 mi	2,661 ft	3,951 ft	5.4%	--
	25.33 mi	33.28 mi	7.95 mi	1,664 ft	4,913 ft	7.7%	--
	38.26 mi	42.55 mi	4.29 mi	3,686 ft	4,717 ft	4.6%	--
	43.36 mi	46.06 mi	2.71 mi	4,660 ft	5,358 ft	4.9%	--

The climb from Martigny up Col de la Forclaz was a little work (third on the list above).  8 miles @ 8%!  All my friends back in the desert thinking that at least I have good weather will be surprised.  I was registering 91-99 degrees during the climb.  8,400 feet of climbing in a good little 50 miles.  Eat your heart out!

-ML