Today I went into the Cévennes (have I mentioned how great this place is?) with Erik for some climbing, trying to end the week on a high note, as it were. The route I had planned out (and forgotten once we hit the road) had 2800 meters of ‘up’, which would have brought me close to 7000 meters for the week – important numbers for Haute Route later on in the season.
As it turned out, we ran into a rally race somewhere in the middle of the mountains and got re-routed, changing our plans on the fly. Luckily, the Cévennes (a really great place to ride) has a nearly endless supply of awesome roads, so we just backed out of the village the Gendarmes turned us around in, and headed towards Florac. Here we are at lunch in the middle of town.
After this we hit a road that I knew from 44|5’s tour in the area, but had never climbed it. Here is beginning of it.
The sign is pointing down slightly, but the climb (5 km @ av. 8%) ain’t. We were pretty happy to see the Corniche des Cévennes at top, a long, beautiful, ridge road that is fast and fun. At the end of the day we had racked up 115 km and 2150 m, so not as big as we’d have liked, but at least we didn’t get run over by a race car, and that’s always a plus.
The Vicious Cycle 
Hey Gerry, I tried to get high today too … but back to you, the Cevennes and a question, or is it a plug? The Cevennes are extraordinary riding (in my experience); though you know them far better than me! Any chance there is a tour coming up, so some of your readers could join you?
Funny you should ask (or plug). Our first tour of the season starts in 4 weeks – June 6th: http://www.445cyclingtours.com/high-road-tours/high-road-cevennes/
Gerry: I WILL ride with you in your Cevennes one day! Not sure when, but will make it happen
I’m going to have to stop reading this blog soon! The Cevennes are pretty much top of the list of places I want to go ride, I just need more vertical metres in my legs before I take the plunge!
Gav, there’s lots of ups and downs in there, no question, but you can find some that are more gentle than others. It’s a really lovely area to ride, though, so get those climbing legs on and come down!