The Tale of the Two Flat Tires

Col des Aravies

I did a beautiful loop yesterday---Ugine to Col des Avaries to Col de la Fry and back to Ugine.  There were four major climbs altogether---some more major than others.  To start the first climb, it was leave the hotel and turn right.  Great descents.  The photos are at http://gallery.me.com/twjmath/100006

Hotel du Bourg, Ugine, and Albertville

I liked the Hotel du Bourg.  It's a typical two-star French hotel---not fancy, but it's clean and the price is right.  The couple that runs the hotel seem really nice.  It's a great base to explore the area.  You could stay here for two weeks and not run out of new places to explore.  I will return.

The Tale of the Two Flat Tires

After breakfast this morning at the Hotel du Bourg, the plan was to drive to St. Jean-de-Maurienne.  Since I couldn't check into my hotel until this afternoon, I had some time to kill and decided to take the back road over the Col de la Madeleine.  This is the climb that Lance Armstrong crashed on twice in the 2010 Tour de France, essentially eliminating him from the race.  The road is barely wide enough for two cars in some places.  In other places, it isn't that wide.  About 6 kilometers up the 20 kilometer climb, I hit a rock.  It only took me a minute or two to realize that I had a flat tire.  I drove the car about 200 meters to a straight stretch in the road and got out to put out the hazard triangle and check on the damage.  Both tires on the right side of the car were flat, and at least one of the rims was bent.  OUCH!

My first break was that I had cell phone coverage.  I called Renault Assistance, and they contacted a Renault dealer for a tow truck, which arrived from Albertville (25 kilometers away) in under two hours.  The driver/mechanic loaded my Clio onto the flatbed of the emergency vehicle and we were off.  He had to drive up the mountain a kilometer or two until he found a place to turn around.  He then negotiated the hairpin turns on the way down and more often than not he was forced to use more than his half of the road.  This guy was talented!

There was no damage to the body of the car, but I suspect that both tires and rims will need to be replaced.  It's a pretty simple repair (one hour?), but today is Sunday, and virtually nothing is open.  First, there was talk of a rental car, but Renault Assistance decided that they would put me up in a hotel for the night.  They sent a taxi for me. Total time elapsed so far was about 3 hours from the accident.

Since Albertville is by far the largest city in the area, I assumed that Renault Assistance would find me a hotel there.  Surprise!  My hotel is the Ibis Hotel in Moûtiers about 30 km away.  I watched the meter on the taxi climb higher and higher figuring that a high fare was the price that I had to pay for my stupidity of hitting the rock.  In the end, the fare was 72 euros.  I offered to pay the driver, but he said it was covered by Renault Assistance.  Renault Assistance could have put me in a nicer hotel in Albertville and saved a bunch of money.

I still have to fill out the accident form and fax it to the insurance company.  I received at least two calls from Renault Assistance reminding me that the form must be faxed within 24 hours.  Unfortunately, this form is in the glove box of the Clio, so I will have to take care of this in the morning.

The plan is to get up early tomorrow, eat breakfast at the hotel, check-out and store my luggage, and then ride my bike back to the Renault garage in Albertville.  Yes, I put the bike in the back of the taxi, since I didn't want to leave it in the car overnight.

I called the hotel in St. Jean-de-Maurienne to tell them I would be a day late.  Hopefully, this is all going to work out and not cost me a fortune.  If it does, a big thank you goes to Renault Assistance.

Other Items

• I got the laundry done.
• I figured out how to recharge my French cell phone.  I have done this before, and all that you have to do is to dial a number and enter the code that you purchased.  The trick is that all of the instructions that you hear are in French.  Given today's events, it is a very good thing that I got this done.
• English works fine if the only person that you want to talk to is yourself.  So it looks like I am speaking nothing but French until I get to the Lantern Rouge on July 12.