Grenoble Cycling Pages

April 2004 Diary

April 25th - The Menee, Grimone and Croix Haute

I left the house in Vif at just after seven in the morning, and immediately headed south and started to climb towards Monestier de Clermont. It was a clear morning with hazy views over the Vercors mountains. To the southwest, high cloud covered the Trieves, but the weather had predicted sunshine over the Alps so I didn't take the rain cape.

The main road from Vif starts climbing immediately with a gradient of around five percent. The road meanders up the mountainside for the first few kilometres before following the mountain contours and opening to longer straight sections.

The view back towards the Vercors near Sinard

The Collet de Sinard is situated just above the village of Sinard, and it a little more climbing than taking the direct road from Vif to Monestier. It is however a lot quieter. The road is never very steep, averaging around three to four percent for the thirteen kilometres to the 881 metre summit. I cycled past the roadworks for the new section of autoroute, and I wondered how this ride will change in the future when the work had been completed.

There was a small descent from the Collet de Sinard down to Monestier de Clermont before another kilometre of climbing to take me to the 899 metre Col du Fau. I would be riding back over this Col from the other direction later in the day but I had another three Cols to cycle over before that would happen.

My route followed the main road between Grenoble and Sisteron, the N75, as it undulated up and down on its passage south. The cliffs of the Vercors were off to my right and the high peaks of the Trieves to the left. I rode past the junction for the Col de l'Allimas and then in the village of Clelles, I turned off the N75 and started the climb to the Col de Menee. It was a 14 kilometre climb with 650 metres of vertical ascent to 1402 metres. I had ridden this climb back in 2001 on a 200 kilometre day ride from Grenoble, and I had vague memories of a climb that wasn't too tough. The slight tailwind would make it easier.

The Mont Aguille stood imposing to the right as I climbed above Clelles. There were no hairpins on the climb, and for the early kilometres I rode underneath the cool cover of trees before they eventually disappeared to give way to fields and a small village. The morning still felt fresh as the sun was hidden behind the mountains. The road again climbed into the trees after the 1197 metre Col de Prayet, but there was no descending after this Col and the road continued to climb. The gradient did ease to around four percent for the next five kilometres to the top of the Col de Menee.


Views of Mont Aguille near the bottom of the Col de Menee	Cycling under the high cliffs of the Vercors on the Col de Menee

This was my favourite part of the climb as I was riding up a forested mountainside in the shade of the trees with the early morning light breaking through the canopy in places. There was one spectacular section as the road passed under the high cliffs of the Vercors. The rock face didn't look at all stable, and the was road covered in small rocks that had broken away from the cliffs to tumble down.


The tunnel at the Col de Menee	Descending the first kilometre of the Col de Menee

The top of the climb isn't the actual Col de Menee as they have built a tunnel to take the road underneath the pass. After the bright light of day, the tunnel seemed dark but it didn't last too long. I stopped on the other side to take a photo of the view over the western side of the Col, and noticed numerous red birds were flying aroud the small trees. I'd seen birds like this on the Col de l'Allimas but nowhere else.

The southern side of the 1402 metre Col de Menee felt long and averaged about five percent for the 19 kilometres of descending. The road took me through the strangly named hamlet of les Nonnieres and then through Menee after another six kilometres.

Mountain views on the southern side of the 1402 metre Col de Menee

The wind had picked up and felt relatively strong on places but for most of the descent it was behind me. The village of Menee flashed by before I reached a junction in the mountains. To the right was the village of Chatillon de Dois, but I turned left in Mensac to climb to the next Col. I had had the road to myself and only saw a handful of cars on the descent.

The 1318 metre Col de Grimone was another 19 kilometres of riding, and 700 metres of climbing. The Grimone was a new Col for me, and like the Col de Menee, it is a Col that allows access between the Drac and Drome valleys. A friend had driven over the climb earlier in the year and recommended the road to me.


The Gorges des Gats	Looking back at a tunnel on the Col de Grimone

For the next kilometres I was able to ride on relatively easy gradients that gradually climbed without me having to work too hard at all. The clouds had now disappeared and a clear sky was with me. The Gorges des Gats were the scenic part of the climb with a couple of kilometres of cycling underneath eroded cliff faces that towering over the road. The road turned 180 degrees at the junction for Borne, and then wound it's way up past even more imposing cliff faces before four small tunnels. The vista then opened to a view of green fields with a backdrop of mountains.

A few kilometres later I rode through Grimone, a small village that was as quiet as the road had been. The Col de Grimone was on the horizon, and was another 200 metres of vertical climbing. The landscape became even more barren and the wind that had helped me on the early kilometres of the climb then turned into a strong headwind for the last two kilometres. I caught and passed the first cyclist I'd seen all day.


The view towards Grimone from the Col de Grimone	The 1318 metre Col de Grimone

The four kilometres of descent from the Grimone felt steeper than the climb I'd ridden on the other side of the Col. I turned left in the village of la Croix Haute and joined the final three kilometres and hundred metres of vertical to the Col de la Croix Haute. This is a road that I wouldn't recommend cycling in the summer due to the volume of traffic, and I didn't plan to spend too long cycling on it today. I had three kilometres of riding into a strong headwind until the 1179 metre Col.

The 1179 metre Col de la Croix Haute

I stayed on the N75 for the descent from the Croix Haute , and continued to ride north towards Grenoble before I turned off the main road and cycled through le Percy. Le Percy was a tiny village perched on a the top of small hill, and the road passed the edge of the village before descending for a number of kilometres. I passed a sign telling me that the road would be closed in four kilometres, but I was sure that I would be able to get past the obstruction on a bike.

I cycled around a corner just outside the village of Sandon and found the road blocked by a wire fence, but with enough space to carefully pass at one side. I then saw the reason for the closure. A bridge had either collapsed or was being rebuilt, and the road certainly was closed to traffic. There was a slight space for me to walk around with my bike held above my head, before I was able to climb on to a wall and then make it past the next wire fence.

The road then climbed out of Sandon and up to the village of Lavars before more descending to the Pont de Brion. Riding through the Trieves region is never flat, and I was starting to feel tired. There were great views in all directions and the high peaks of the Alps still looked so white. 2004 felt like it had been a cold year.

The Pont de Brion, gateway to the Trieves and the Col de Fau

I'd had a bad experience on the climb from the Pont de Brion to the Col de Fau in 2001 when I had severely bonked. The road climbs from 550 metres to 900 over eight kilometres, and today I had a strong headwind to contend with. Although I was tired today, I'd eaten well and tried to spin up the eight kilometres of climbing as best as I could.

I descended through Monestier de Clermont and saw I had 16 kilometres back home to Vif, with around 500 metres of vertical descent. The problem was the wind had picked up and was now whipping up the valley into my face, throwing me around the road. I had to keep pedalling just to keep some momentum going on the shallower sections.

I clocked 145 kilometres for the trip with just under 3000 metres of vertical climb. The road had never been flat, but the legs had thankfully kept going. Now I just wanted the weather to warm up so I could think about going higher.

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