David Olle started Topbike in 1998, and I (MBW*) joined the Topbike scene on my first tour in 2003. Back then, it was all faxes, letters, booking agents, paper maps, phrase dictionaries, loads of reconnaissance, good fortune, and, occasionally, what we’ll just call “travel tales”. I doubt our marriage would have survived without the invention of GPS. Now, we have instantaneous information and booking at our fingertips, but there is still nothing akin to local knowledge.

This year, for the first time since Topbike began 28 years ago, we endeavoured to become locals, basing ourselves in a village at the base of Alpe d’Huez. Dave’s dream was to spend a year in Europe and check off some of the things we don’t usually have time to do during the tour season. I dreamed of skiing in Europe (a goal I’ve had since visiting Canada 35 years ago). I also wanted to improve my downhill biking proficiency by spending a season with a summer lift pass.

Betty didn’t have any specific dreams; she just went with the flow, immersing herself in the local French schooling system and now correcting everything I say! In one season, she’s managed to accrue around 60 days of skiing (as has David) and competed in the Megakids (a mass-start downhill MTB event), as well as in various local downhill races. She’s also climbed challenging rock faces, learning mountaineering techniques from some of France’s best. Nothing exceptional compared to her French peers…

My story was a little different to the one planned. On day three of skiing in Ponte di Legno, I blew my ACL. I had reconstructive surgery in Grenoble in mid-February this year; the result – very successful. I watched the last day of lifts operating for skiing in April 2024 and, more recently, watched the summer lifts close at the end of August. Not one day of skiing or downhill MTB in France for me! However, I’ve managed loads of road cycling and experienced some very special moments, steadily working through my bucket list — not at the rate of Lew Target*, but enough for me.

Betty’s experience at French school (Collège de Six Vallées) has been eye-opening. It seems that only about 60% of the scheduled classes actually take place. There are no substitute teachers, and classes aren’t combined. The teachers seem to strike often or are frequently absent (it must be all that cheese!). The students just hang out or go home. The school did provide Betty with a ‘French for Foreigners’ class. One of the assignments Betty (12 years old) had to complete was writing a love story in French — ah, l’amour! It made me wonder what Australia teaches its new immigrants…

Aside from running tours this season, our downtime has been filled with some of the greatest highlights of my life. We managed to see the Matildas play in Marseille during the Olympic Games. We hiked and spent the night at two remote refuges in the Alps region — the last one just four days ago, and I still can’t walk down stairs! We also attended the final stage of the Women’s Tour de France (Alpe d’Huez), which was a thriller until the end. It was amazing to see the increased profile and professionalism of women’s cycling — it has come a long way since I worked as a physio leading up to Sydney 2000. This modern crop of athletes inspired Betty to grab my road bike and ascend Alpe d’Huez, wearing a top signed by Grace Brown for motivation.

Tours

We’ve just finished running our last group for the year, a charming group of mates from Australia who book with us every other year. They love two things: climbing loads of vertical and drinking big wines with dinner. This time last year, Europe was still in the grip of a heatwave. This year was quite different, and Dave and I were worried the passes might even close due to snow. We did experience chilly conditions at times (including snowfall on one mountain top), but overall, the sun gods smiled on the group. They returned home after completing 13.5K vertical meters in 7 days of riding — and still managed to gain weight!

French Cusine

Bread. When Dave was 16 years old in high school (Highett High), there was an exchange student, Isobelle, from France. This year, we had a lovely evening catching up with her, as she lives close to our base. When she arrived in Australia in the 1970s, her first question was, “Where is the boulangerie?” She recalled surviving a year on white-sliced Sunny Crust Tip Top bread, which, as she put it, “made me fart” — the French can be so descriptive about health matters! In our household, we typically eat very little bread, but this year, we’ve had heaps of it. Every day, we buy a fresh baguette. There are three boulangeries in town, and on Saturdays, the queue stretches down the street. Interestingly, I don’t know why, but there are no overweight people in the queue. This year, during our “big wine, big climb” tour, we dined at a previously Michelin-starred restaurant. The bread they served at the beginning of the meal was the best I’ve ever had. At that moment, I would have been happy to say, “Hold the courses, just bring me more butter — this is what I want for dinner.”

Looking Forward to the 2025 Season

While Dave Olle will remain active on tours, he will take a step back from the organizational aspects of Topbike, as he now spends his days trying to keep up with Betty on an Enduro bike! Jamie and Annabelle Drew will be running their Tuscan Apennines tours and staffing for us on our other Italian tours. Xavier Chauffin had a baby this year, and by the time June comes around next year, we reckon he’ll be ready to work on our French Alps Tour again — hopefully well-rested!

This is what we have planned for 2025…

June 19-26 |
TOUR de FRANCE CLIMBS – French Alps  $5700.00

ONE location: Le Bourg D’Oisans at the base of Alpe D’Huez.
Pick up / Drop Off: Grenoble

July 14 -21 |
ITALIAN ALPS / LAKESIDE | $5800.00

TWO locations: Italian lake (Lago Iseo) / Italian Alps (Ponte di Legno)
Pick up / Drop Off: Brescia
{Limited places}

September 2-10 |
CLASSIC ITALIAN CLIMBS (PDC) | $7200.00
*SOLD OUT/Fully Booked* 

FOUR Locations:
Pick up / Drop-Off: Brescia to Brescia (Or Venice Drop-Off)

September 15-23 |
CLASSIC ITALIAN CLIMBS (Main) | $7200.00

FOUR Locations:
Pick up / Drop-Off: Brescia to Brescia (Or Venice Drop-Off)

September 27- October 4 |
Tour of Tuscan Apennines | $5700.00

ONE location: Pracchia, Tuscany
Pick up / Drop Off: Pracchia Train Station

Emma Colson (AKA MBW)

(*Lew is a cycling Enigma, I’ll go into more detail another newsletter)

WILIER Hybrid E-bikes available, so get your non-cycling friends along to join you, so they can share in the fun.