Day ride from Pont en Royans: An arduous ride through the Coulmes Massif
On waking up the next morning, Rachael said that these last two days might have been the most beautiful and unique riding we've done together. I agree. Vercors is really one of a kind.
This was a challenging day for us, with two long climbs each over 3000'. The 6600' net elevation gain is the most either of us remembers doing since we started keeping track. Plus four round trips up the steep two floor staircase to our hotel room. Probably more than we would choose to ride in a day, but it's like the length of this journal entry - looking back, there's nothing we would want to eliminate.
The first climb began immediately on the edge of town. After gradually climbing upriver along the Bourne River, we turned left onto a side road that wove its way steeply uphill through a narrow gap in the cliffs. Once through them we continued rising, gaining better and better views back over the gorge - and above us we could see our road up ahead, traversing the face of another coming cliff. Anywhere else, this would have been a ride to advertise; here though, it doesn't even merit a name or any mention I could find in reading about this area. Single lanes, precipitous in spots, it could be a bit scary if it weren't almost completely empty - we saw more bikes than cars on the way up.
On D292, at the start of the climb from the Bourne Gorge into the Coulmes Massif. This one climbs 3500' before leveling off a bit and then dropping off the other side of the plateau into the Gorges du Nan.
The view south to the Bourne gorge. Our route up came through the deep gap in the ridge and then switchbacks it's way to the plateau crowning the Coulmes Massif.
Then, abruptly, we rounded a corner and were on top, pedaling gradually uphill through pasturelands. After a few hundred yards, looking back we saw little evidence that the edge of the world was only a few hundred yards away. That's typical of the country here - one minute you're biking across a plateau, and suddenly with little warning you're careening down into some wild, unforgettable cirque.
And, after pedaling along for a few miles, here we are at the upper end of the Cirque du Nan, another road written up as one of The Most Dangeous Roads in France.
Here's a video clip of the descent through the gorge, fresh from Rachael's new GoPro. Happily, she had it mounted in the right direction this time!
Awesome descent. No cars, unbelievable views, looking like something from another world. Then, abruptly, we're out of it and coasting into the narrow strip of agricultural land and small communities bordering the Isere.
In Presles, an enticing saxophone melody emanated from this attractive auberge. I wished it were time for lunch.
After about five miles of cruising through the valley we stopped in briefly at a tavern to pick up ice cream bars and refill on water, and then turned uphill to begin our second climb of the day - the 3000' ascent to Col du Romeyere, back up on the plateau again. On the way up we are overtaken by a French cyclist who slows down to chat. He informed us that John Kerry was injured this morning in a cycling accident not far from here (remarkably, it occurred in a small village on our route - we'll pass through it when we drop down to Lake Geneva at the end of our month here). Also, he cautioned us about the choice of roads ahead - apparently there are two choices - one which has been closed but he thinks might be cycleable now, and one with a kilometer-long unlit tunnel.
Halfway up this one there is a lovely large waterfall dropping from the top of a limestone cliff. Toward the top of the cliff there is a scar across its sheer face where the road goes; but once up there we find that it is barricaded - this is the alternate route the cyclist told me to watch for. The short gap we can see looks passable, but for all we know we could get around a corner and find a gap facing into the void. We opt for the tunnel instead.
Unfortunately, we hadn't thought to include lights in our packing list for day rides, so we flagged down the next motorcyclist and appealed for an escort service. It's a good thing we did - the tunnel completely blackens shortly after entering it. At one unnerving point he pulled too far away from us and we were in the dark - almost immediately I crashed against a wall, thinking I was in the center of the lane. Fortunately he realized he lost us and waited up.
Once out of the tunnel we enjoyed the overlook straight down-cliff at the waterfall and then continued climbing. Rounding a bend, abruptly we were atop the ridge and onto the plateau on a straight road through the woods and meadows. Amazing.
Beginning the day's second ascent - climbing from the Isere valley toward Col de Romeyere.
The abandoned cliffside road above the waterfall. It has been replaced by a half-mile long tunnel, presumably for safety reasons. Not surprising - it looked scary just imagining walking it. We were tempted a bit, but opted for the tunnel.
The unlit half mile tunnel on the climb to Col de Romeyere. It becomes incredibly ink black a few yards from the entrance so we flagged down a motorcyclist to pilot us through. At one point our guiding light got away from us a bit and I immediately crashed into a wall. We were lucky he soon paused to wait for us.
After another few miles of gradual ascent we reached the final summit for the day, Col de Romeyere. From here, we coasted the entire remaining 12 miles home, almost to the door of our hotel. We did gain 16 feet along the way, mostly in cycling through town at the end. It was another gorgeous drop - the ride across the plateau was very beautiful and intensely green, and at the end we enjoyed a last few miles of dramatic, tortuous gorge road. We arrived at our hotel after 6:30 - just in time to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was a feast, on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the Bourne River. My Caesar salad was presented as only the French would do, garnished with strawberries, cantaloupe, chicken and artichoke hearts. Our mains were both wonderful. Rachael had a large plate of tiny cheese ravioli (one of the local specialties) and I had a generous serving of magret of duck, sided with baked apples. A fittingly wonderful end to an incomparable day.
Things are looking up, and it's all downhill from here. In the final 12 miles from here to our hotel we climbed a total of 16 feet and dropped 3000'. A nice ratio to end the day on.
