In reply to yorkshireman:
That Echapee Belle route looks great, not sure i want to get involved in anything that has 11 100 meters of ascent though, even the shorter ones look pretty fearsome.....
I especially like this little nugget from the road book:
The highlands of Belledonne are used as grazing land for sheep, which are guarded by dogs known as ‘patous’. Be warned, these are not like British sheep-dogs, they may be unsupervised, and they take their duty of guarding their sheep very seriously! The shepherds have been advised that the race is going through and asked to move their flocks away from the course if possible. Nonetheless, if you encounter a herd, and in particular a patou dog, these recommendations should be observed:
• Do not run
• Stay standing, give them the time to identify you
• Do not attempt to scare them off with your batons
• Keep walking calmly along the path
• Call the course PC or inform the first volunteer of their presence
Post edited at 12:43