Valserine ride

The Tour is coming down this valley in two weeks time, so I went for an early morning 45k pootle down the valley towards Valserhone. It really is a beautiful place, gently descending through Lelex to Chezery-Forens. The valley changes character from arable and partially wooded to something close to a gorge lower down, with waterfalls and the river quickening pace. At Chezery, I started the climb up to the Col du Menthieres, but quickly realised it would have taken too long so after steep initial slopes I turned off for Rosset and then climbed back up the valley. This is known as the Lelex Monts-Jura climb and it is pretty gentle but it does drag on, almost all the way back to Mijoux.

Grand Montrond

Peaks: Petit Montrond, Grand Montrond (1614m)

Area: Haut Jura, France

The main Jura hills loomed above Mijoux, and although easier to access from the Faucille, it seemed rude not to get onto them from our accommodation. So Kate and I set out on a pleasant walk initially, for around 2k up the Sentier des Arts until Kate turned back and I broke into a gentle jog along the Route Royale to gain the col. From here the route to the mountains doubles back and becomes hard to follow, primarily because there are tracks, trails and paths everywhere. So choosing the right one was tricky although eventually I found my way up the Petit Montrond and then the main ridge path which continues all the way to Le Reculet and beyond. The route along the broad crest was superb, great views down to Geneva and across to Mont Blanc. From Grand Montrond I descended the Chemin d'Amont to the col then retraced steps back to our apartment just under two hours after leaving. Refuelled with Bleu du Gex crepes and a swim in the Lac du Lamoura.

Haut Jura sportive route (65k)

This was a little bit cheeky, but there was an organised sportive taking place across the Haute Jura today. It would have taken me all day to do it properly, and we had a family Geneva trip planned, so instead I just did a version of the short 65k route by climbing the hairpins from Mijoux (informally known as the Col de Mijoux) and then joining the marked route at Lajoux. It was early, I was well before the event, but the signage was up and took me through some exquisite scenery, the epitome of the Jura. It took the Route de la Simmard to Bellecombe, beautiful farmland, woods and views of the high Jura hills. The roads were almost completely empty, and then became even quieter through the lovely gorge of the Bief des Parres. At La Sechere the views opened out to the west over the main Flumen valley to Septmoncel and St Claude. A fast descent led to a sharp turn and very minor road (which I would never have found) to Laisia. All these places were tiny hamlets. I then got to more familiar terrain around Lamoura and the main Faucille/Geneva road (still fairly quiet) up to the Swiss border at La Cure. This climbs, hugging the border until the gentle descent down the Valserine back to Mijoux. This was so fast and so rideable that even I went pretty quickly on it (5 miles in 12 minutes).

La Goulette climbing

Crag: La Goulette (Jura)

Routes: La Bise (f4:led), Le Sonaillard (f4:sec), L'Aubarete (f4:led)

A short session with Morgan on then gentle crag of La Goulette, nestled in the woods near the final hairpin below the Col de Mijoux. It would have been perfect were it not for the fact that I forgot the screwgates despite packing the rest of the climbing kit! Anyway, the routes were all on slabby pocketed limestone and reminded me how much I enjoy easy French sports climbing. It would have been nice to tick the crag but not feasible. Earlier on I did an excellent loop of Mijoux tracks and small roads around the Valserine, a great run and my deformed heel felt OK. After the crag, we had an excellent lunch at Feodor and then a nice short circular family hike from Lajoux.

Le Noirmont

Peaks: Le Noirmont (1567m), Le Noirmont des Francais (1547m)

Area: La Cure, Switzerland

Morgan was keen to get out for a proper mountain hike and, given our location on the border, to do something across that border. La Cure has a traditional customs post and we parked just beyond it after dropping the ladies off at the lake. A nice path led to a junction and then a steeper track up to broken woodland and limestone crags around the summit of Le Noirmont. The views were slightly hazy but we could see across Lake Geneva to the Alps and the immediate environs were very attractive: the other Jura hills in a nice crest over to the Grand Montrond and the rest of the gently rolling landscape across the French border. The route continued through copses and across the head of a lovely valley up to the next summit which we shared with two other groups (despite its name it is also in Switzerland). Superb views as we descended the broad ridge above a shallow valley called the Croux des Croue. Alpine meadows, cows, the full cliche. We contoured below the Cret des Danses and then headed south to complete a very pleasant 14k loop back to La Cure. An ideal first outing and we both enjoyed it.    

Mijoux-Faucille-Geneva suburbs

Not the first time I have been up the Col de la Faucille - I think I also went up via the busy main road 15 years ago. It is a key pass linking the tranquil Jura with the much busier and more densely populated Geneva area. After checking in to our accommodation in Mijoux I had to engage in over 10k of frantic back-and-forth running to sort out a major logistical problem with the car hire caused by Geneva airport's border location! Eventually we worked it out and I drove the family over the col and down to Mijoux, meaning I had to pick the van up this morning from the French border town of Fernay-Voltaire. Luckily this was an easy and delightful ride in the morning sunshine. The climb from Mijoux take a quiet side road and only requires about 400m of elevation gain to the main road and fast riding to the col. Stunning view of Mont Blanc above Lake Geneva in perfect clarity before the superb descent (albeit with my usual damaging caution) down to Gex. After this a series of suburbs all the way to the border, all gently inclining downhill allowing for fast progress - 75 minutes from Mijoux to the van.

Grand Ballon ride

Way back in 2011 I did Alpe d'Huez in torrential rain and have never forgotten the experience, virtually hypothermic by the time I got back down. This was similar, albeit not as bad because I packed more sensibly. I camped a little way up the climb itself above Uffoltz, and there was a big thunderstorm in the early evening. I felt it was unlikely that I'd be able to do it the next day, but when I woke there seemed to be an early weather window - and since I was in position before 7am I went for it. It's a fairly big climb which the Tour is taking in two weeks time. Relatively kind gradients initially, as the wooded slopes weave up to a gentle section at the Hartmannswillerkopf, sight of a major WWI battle. Then comes a descent to the Col Amic, a tad annoying, and the weather was beginning to look threatening. Big views open out in all directions, with black clouds gathering to the south. There was no time to waste but the climb gets steeper after the col and even has a couple of cobbled sections. All good though, like a mini-Ventoux in a way, such a notable and isolated mountain. I got to the summit just as the rain started and by the time I'd descended back to the Col Amic it was torrential. I obviously had to climb back out of the other side and quickly became soaked, rendering the rest pretty unpleasant - in these conditions you'll get cold whatever you do, and I was shivering by the time I got back to the van.