Trust your brakes? Absolutely?

The Cols are not as high as in the Pyrenees - but the weather is better

Do you trust your brakes? Trust them absolutely? How do you feel about a 10% descent: huge drop off on your right, jagged rock wall left, sharp bends, no barrier?

A crack where the sun never shines?

Cycling in the southern Cevennes, south-central France. Heart pumping climbs. Heart stopping descents. Breathtaking views. Gigantic drops. There are endless tiny roads, little traffic but coffee bars are scarce.

St Jean du Gard

The cols are not as high as in the Haute Pyrenees: 500-600m But the weather is better. 300 days of sunshine a year. The challenges are just as great.

 

Swirling curves

Two rides completed in the area this year en route from the rain-swamped Pyrenees. Base is Anduze. Take the high road to St Jean du Gard. Streets in the town are so narrow, the houses so tall, the road must be in permanent shadow.

Tiny communities buried deep n the broadleaf forests

Head out of town and at the fork take a right: a long, steady, winding climb through broad-leaf forests to Col D’Uglas at 529m. Down past tiny, ancient communities clinging to the hillsides to the busy town of Alés. Friday prayers have just finished. Cars everywhere. The road round town is a bumpy, gritty mess. Then a smooth hill on a broad bike lane, up and over to Anduze.

Day 2, same road out of St Jean but left at the fork and cruise to St Etienne. Typical French mountain road, low wall, swirling curves, swooping drops and swift climbs. A great coffee in a roadside bar in St Etienne before backtracking and take the fork to Moissac. A painful, grinding climb to the Corniche de Cevennes road. It is 2km along this fast highway to another col – Col de l’Exil. Instead we choose a tiny road – here, the dramatic drop into the Gordon Gorge at Saumane.

 

Steep hills, big drops, no wall

It’s narrow, steep, winding and there’s next to nothing to stop us falling off the edge. Instinctively we moved towards the centre. The brakes are good, we make it down. Ahead is another col, extra steep and with warning signs. Instead, we turn left on a glorious road along the gorge. Smooth. Gently downhill. Brisk wind at our backs. Pause to watch some canyoning. Cruise into St Jean de Gard. Coffee.

 

The Day 2 profile - a painful climb and then exciting descent

Log

Day 1: 58km 934m climbing

Day 2: 50km 1077m climbing

Coffee

Le Bistrot, St Jean du Gard. Deux double - €5

Brakes

Avid BB7 cable-operated disks – trust them absolutely

You said it!

The landscape speaks – are you listening? – William Least Heat Moon

The Gardon Gorge

Cyclists are dwarfed by the scenery along the gorge