I was in France in July 2009 trying to ride my bike up some of the famous Tour de France mountain stages in the Alps.  One of the most famous is the Alpe d'Huez.  That's my bicycle below, a green "Gilmour" (Andy Gilmour is a local bicycle builder) at the top of the Alpe d'Huez.



I was back in France this past summer.  The next picture shows the last 3 or 4 km of the road to the summit of Mt. Ventoux, another famous climb in Provence.