Next stop Vercors 12th September

I was on the road again, this time to the Vercors; a mountain area just to the south west of Grenoble. Although it lacks the big cols and mountains of the Alps, it does have a number of three star rated roads on the Michelin maps (the highest rating given) due to the scenery and terrain they pass through.

To get to Rencurel where I was staying the last few days in France, I decided to take the scenic route straight north on the back roads via the larger town Die. And once I’d punched in the destination on the car GPS I was off.

The country on the drive is very rugged, with little villages along side small streams. It is very dry through this area with the locals farming small plots among the rocky hills.

Village on the way

There were one or two moments where I stopped and referred to my back up map to confirm I was actually on the right roads, as some I was directed to use were very narrow lanes. Fortunately traffic was light so I only had a few interesting moments with oncoming traffic.

At the town of Die is the start of the drive up into the southern end of the Vercors. The road headed over the Col de Rousset and looked like a worthwhile climb if staying in the southern end of the range. I was headed to the northern end so kept the Peugeot moving. 

Hotel Le Marronnier in Rencurel was recommended to me and caters primarily to cyclists and motorcyclists who come to ride on the winding roads in the area. The facilities are suitable and as soon as I’ve unpacked I got out on the bike for a quick ride.

Rencurel

I decided to ride over the Col de Romeyere which is only 6km above the hotel and then continued down off the escarpment to the village St Gervais. From here it was a nice winding ascent past waterfalls and cliffs. In one section, the downhill traffic normally takes the original road that traverses the cliff and a tunnel for uphill traffic. Unfortunately recent rock fall took out a section of the external route so I had to take the 500m long tunnel both directions. It is unlit so fortunately I heeded the hotel owners’ advice and took lights.

East side of the Col de Romeyere

Waterfall on the west side of the col

View of the climb

It was nice jaunt on what otherwise would have been a rest day. In the end it was a short 40km ride with over 2000m elevation gain thrown in for good measure.

Ride details:

Distance 40.14km

2074m elevation