I was cyling from Freiburg, Germany through the Jura, Vercors, Drôme, Verdon to Nice, France.

Title picture is in the Drôme area, which i absolutely loved.

Most of Jura i cycled on the swiss side, weather was not great but it was still nice, basically following the cycle route 7 until i reached the grand tour de jura section on the french side after the lac du joux. I kinda liked the french part better, seemed wilder. Photo is in Switzerland on the col de l’aiguillon, from there was a fantastic downhill to the village Baumes.

Approaching the Vercors it was all full of walnut trees and i rode to Pont-en-Royans with the plan to ride up the Goulet:

(Pont-en-Royans)

On the way to Goulet i learned that it was not passable because there was a tunnel construction and i returned to Pont-en-Royans to ride up the Gorge de la Bournes instead. I had read up a bit about those crazy vercors roads beforehand, mostly on this site, which i guess is aimed at motor cyclists. Amazingly the road up the gorge was calm, not much traffic at all, i guess the season was over already in September in the Vercors.

Later that evening was a heavy rain storm, next day was still raining hard, tried to wait it out to climb up the col de Rousset, which would lead me out of the Vercors, but it was hopeless and so i rode up to the col in the clouds and pouring rain.

(Col de rousset before the tunnel)

At the col there’s a tunnel and on the other side of it, the clouds were less dense and you could get a glimpse of a view. A gang of middle aged moped drivers from Grenoble were on the other side, we chatted for a bit and a french guy on the first day of his first bikepacking trip showed up as well. We chatted and made an appointment to meet for a coffee and talk some more in the town ‘Die’ which was at the end of the descend, then we descended. Weather cleared up and it had these amazing heat swells on the way down. After the downhill you can very much feel and smell the south already. Ithought Die is a nice town with a hippy vibe.

Next day i went into the Drôme area or Dioise (i am confused myself) and it was amazing, weather started to be great and it felt southern. I cycled along the Roanne valley:

(There is a “tunnel” hidden in this picture)

Next day continued going south, to go on a campsite in Buis-les-Barronies, which was still less then six Euros in 2021. The municipal campsite, right by the town, there’s also a privately run one which i assume must be more expensive.

(Buis-lesBarronies in the valley, Mont Ventoux in the background)

Buis-les-Barronies is kind of a tourist hub in that area, but still a beautiful town, has an outdoors sports store where i could get some gas for my stove. Big Pizzas in town.

I then wanted to cycle to the gorge de meouge, but on the way there i saw a sign by the road announcing another scenic route along a different gorge, so i took that too and had a nice lunch snack / swim at the Gorge d’Aulan:

Then on via gorge de meouge (great swim too), sisteron towards the Gorge du Verdon. It is a very popular tourist site, but traffic was fine, all people in cars are also there to look out of the window and drive real slow. The village Moustieres-Sainte-Marie is also a tourist hotspot, but it is also an amazing village, would recommend a stop.

After having a swim, a view down to the Lac de Sainte Croix on the way to the Gorge route, from the town Aiguines, you can also see the Plateau Valensole on the other side of the lake, which is probably pictured on the cover of you Provence travel guide with its lavender fields.

(Gorge du Verdon)

I was riding the southern side of the gorge even though everybody told me the northern one with the loop would be better, but it was longer and i was getting to the end of my trip and didn’t want to put myself under time pressure, so kept going south which was also very nice. Tons of Herbes de Provence, mostly thyme on that mountain.

I was figuring out a lot of my routes with a michelin map and their marked scenic routes. I was riding along a mountain plateau and wondered why it had beeen marked scenic, then i saw a sign “clues de greolieres” the plateau opened up with a fantastic view into the valley and it, an amazing experience riding down this to greolieres (beautiful village).

Then i basically just rode to Nice via Coursegoule and col de vence. Gotta send this post now before it is wednesday :)

edit: damn, 10 seconds late, haha.

another edit: Sorry i am a bit drunk and wrote this on the train back home, hope you can still enjoy the photos. Absolutely love cycling in France and i want to cycle all of these areas again, just a bit different routes, especially i think the Dioise / Drôme, i thought that was just gorgeus there, not too overrun by tourists, super calm small roads, perfect cycling.

Route if anybody’s interested.

  • NotSpez@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Awesome post, thank you for sharing! This is the kind of content that makes me so happy this sub was created (by OP, no less).

    Route looks very well planned. Since covid I have been more aware of how much incredible beauty Europe actually has to offer. Those valleys/Gorges, empty French roads, and incredible landscapes are worth all the cold nights, rainy and windy descents, and the liquid that the French call coffee (I’m not sure we will ever agree, but when I’m on the bike, I don’t even care).

    I also really appreciated that find the tunnel challenge, thanks for that! I once rode from northern Italy to Nice through the alps, I remember how incredible it was to experience the shift in landscape and vegetation from day today. I will share a little story about it in one of the upcoming throwback Tuesdays.

    Someone in the comments asked how to do the camping stuff. My two cents on the matter is: if you have a limited budget, start by riding full gear for only a weekend, with one or two nights only. Plan some cheap campsites, or your friends and gardens as stops and don’t plan more than half the distance he would normally cycle without luggage to start with. It does take some time to get used to it, even more, so if you are cycling in an area with a lot of ups and downs.

    If your budget allows it, it can also be very interesting to do some credit card bikepacking. This means one bag only, between five and 8 kg. Then you go from hotel to hotel in the off-season and it can be reasonably cheap (It is cheaper with a duo than alone) and it can be great fun to have a place to eat dinner at and to have a hot shower at the end of the day. In planning the route, also be kind to yourself. Those 5 to 8 kg really do make a big difference on an alpine. Next to the price, the most obvious downside to this method is that you probably book everything in advance, so your flexibility is limited. Another reason to be kind to yourself during planning.

    Lastly, on this: In some bikepacking communities, there is some gatekeeping going on, meaning that they say you need to do this, or that, or it doesn’t count if you don’t have a mug hanging from your bag or whatever. Never, ever listen to any of that. What you need are two wheels, some bags whose contents preferably stay dry in the rain and the road. The smile will come out automatically and the rest are minor details. (the disclaimer here is that I do like all kinds of middle and high end bikepacking stuff, but when I’m on the road, it’s the road that makes me happy, not the carbon that I’m sitting on per se)

    Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, I haven’t been able to do any long distance stuff the last 2 years, so my contributions will mostly be a throwback Tuesdays, but I will be back with a vengeance.

    PS: again, OP, the photos are absolutely stunning. I find myself daydreaming about cycling in this area now.