If you're going in November you could get lucky. We have a home from home in the alps and I frequently go down there by bike in November. It's a very variable month - sometimes it's glorious autumn weather with warm sunny days (ok, with somewhat chilly nights) and other times the snow ploughs are on overtime. This was last year (ok it was the end of October but nothing changed for a couple of weeks afterwards) -




Whereas a couple of years earlier (pic taken on 11th Nov) with the road covered in sheet ice -






Generally the snowploughs etc from the local councils do a very good job of keeping the essential roads open. Note that's essential roads. Some of the great rides in the summer take in (in my neck of the woods anyway) passes like the Galibieer and the Croix de Fer. They're not classified as essential routes and are just left blocked over the winter, so once the first snow falls that's it for many of the roads you might want to ride. The ones that are left are generally busy as everyone who lives in the area uses them to get to work.

I know it seems obvious but the biggest problem with riding in the alps in winter is that they are hilly. On a bike that means that sooner or later you'll be faced with trying to stop going downhill on ice. Wheelie's warning about the difficulties of doing that sometimes is not to be taken lightly. The consequences can be much worse than just sliding along the road a bit and pulling the bike out of a ditch. Even without the hazards of hitting other traffic while you're sliding there are bends near me where only an easily missed armco barrier separates you from a 500ft drop. I've gone down that road in winter in a Land Rover fitted with 4 wheel chains and been uncertain at times whether I could stop. A bike in those conditions would be an absolute nightmare.

Often you don't even need obvious stuff like snow on the roads. A cold night can freeze mountain runoff water where it crosses the road so an early morning start can find you coming around a corner on a dry road to be faced with an ice slick across the tarmac. Usually I prefer to follow a car or something so they slide first!

A small lightweight bike is definitely an advantage when it comes to trying to deal with adverse conditions but on the other hand you have to get there first on it - and then you might be wondering whether it would be quicker to get off and walk on some of the climbs. How do I know - meet my winter hack bike, a mid 70's Suzuki 120 in mid prep for next years Elephant rally. Dog slow on level roads and a second gear grind on some alpine hills, it's about as lightweight as it gets short of backpacking. Based on my experiences with this I'd say choose your transport carefully if you don't want to remember the trip for all the wrong reasons!