Lyon · Vercors Balcony Roads

A 273 km loop from Voiron

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Why this ride

Cliffs, tunnels, balconies and the kind of roads riders remember. 273 km round from Voiron - plan on about 5 h 15 of riding. The stops in between: Pont-en-Royans village stop and Vassieux plateau meal. The climb of the day is Combe Laval balcony road. It tops out at about 900 m. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Voiron fuel gate fuel

   Voiron sits where the Isère valley meets the foothills of the Chartreuse, a manufacturing town of twenty-two thousand people about twenty-five kilometres north-west of Grenoble, and it makes things that matter to riders and to anyone who likes a drink. The monks of the Grande Chartreuse monastery, hidden in the mountains above, have made their herbal liqueur since the eighteenth century, and the cellars where it is aged and bottled are in Voiron, said to be the longest liqueur cellar in the world. The town is also where the Rossignol ski company began in 1907, a reminder that these valleys feed the Alps with both hardware and thirst.

   As a start and finish, Voiron is very useful. It has fuel stations on every approach, supermarkets, bakeries and a long main street with cafés, and the suburbs of Coublevie and Saint-Jean-de-Moirans run into it. Grenoble's traffic is close enough to cause delays on the roads at commuting time, so leave early or wait until after nine. From here the roads head toward the Vercors balcony roads and the Ardèche gorges, and the first hour is a gradual shift from industrial valley to mountain air.

   To the east, the Chartreuse massif rises in vertical limestone cliffs, grey and cream, with forest on the shelves and meadows above. Its roads, which include famous passes like the Col de Porte and the Col du Cucheron, are among the best in the French Alps, but they lie behind the ridge, and on the way out from Voiron you only get the sense of their scale. To the north lies the Lac de Paladru, a glacial lake with clear water and a long public beach, which makes a good swim stop in summer.

   Food in Voiron leans toward the Dauphiné and Savoie, with gratin dauphinois, walnut tarts and local cheeses such as Saint-Marcellin. A coffee on the main street before setting off is the right way to begin, and the same coffee in the evening is a fair reward for coming back. Winter mornings can be icy on the valley roads, so check the temperature before you leave.

2. Pont-en-Royans village stop sight

   Pont-en-Royans is one of the odd, brilliant sights of the Vercors: a row of old houses hanging out over the river Bourne on wooden balconies, supported by nothing but stone and optimism. The village sits where the gorge opens a little, with cliffs above, the water running green and fast beneath, and a stone bridge crossing the stream. The coloured houses, red, ochre and yellow, lean out from the rock face, and in the morning, when the sun lights the façades, they seem to float. It is a village of barely a thousand people, but it is one of the most photographed in the Alps.

   The valley's history is tied to water and wood. For centuries, the Bourne was a transport route for timber, which was floated downstream from the high plateau, and the village grew as a hub for the trade. The rock walls around have caves, and the nearby Choranche cave, a few kilometres up the valley, is known for its forest of thin, hollow stalactites, which are among the rarest in Europe. A little further, the Grands Goulets road, blasted through a narrow gorge in the nineteenth century, climbs into the high plateau with tunnels cut straight through the cliff.

   For a rider, this is a place to slow down. The roads in the Royans are narrow, winding and spectacular, with deep drops and short tunnels, and in many places the road is carved into the rock face, so surface water, rockfall and gravel are real hazards. The best time is a weekday morning in spring or early autumn, when traffic is light. Leave the bike at the edge of the village and walk across the bridge for the view. The nearest large town is Saint-Marcellin, about ten kilometres west, which has several stations, supermarkets and a good market, and it is wise to fill up there before heading into the mountains.

   Saint-Marcellin gives its name to a soft, creamy cow's milk cheese, often sold in a little terracotta dish, and it appears on menus throughout the area. Eat some, with bread and a glass of Drôme white wine, at a table near the river. The mountain plateau of Vassieux, the next stop on the ride, is cooler, and a warm layer is useful even in summer.

3. Combe Laval balcony road high

   The Combe Laval road is a ledge cut into a cliff, and it feels like it. The D76 leaves Saint-Jean-en-Royans and climbs into a deep, narrow valley on the western edge of the Vercors, a great gash in the limestone with walls hundreds of metres high, and then runs along the side of the cliff on a shelf blasted out of the rock. It was built over a long period, beginning in the late nineteenth century, to bring timber down from the forest of Lente on the plateau above, and the tunnels and rock overhangs are the marks of that labour.

   The result is a road that grants views no engineer would call sensible. On one side is a wall of grey stone, sometimes overhanging; on the other, a drop of several hundred metres to the bed of the valley, with only a low parapet or, in places, a few stones at the edge. The curves are tight, the road is narrow, and in some places two vehicles cannot pass without one backing up. Take it slowly, and use the pull-ins to look, rather than looking while riding.

   The surface is generally good, but the road can be wet and slippery in the shade, and rocks sometimes fall from the cliff above. In winter, the road is often closed because of snow and ice, and in busy periods there may be traffic restrictions, so check the local situation before you go.

   Below, the villages of the Royans are a different world: Saint-Jean-en-Royans is a quiet market town of three thousand people, with stations and shops, and Pont-en-Royans, a few kilometres away, is famous for its houses that hang over the gorge of the Bourne on wooden beams. The local specialities are walnuts, ravioles, tiny cheese-filled pasta parcels, and Saint-Marcellin, the small, creamy cow's-milk cheese named for the town to the west.

   Fuel is available in Saint-Jean-en-Royans, and there is none on the road itself, so fill up before you begin. The smell of wet rock and pine mingles with the cold air that rises from the valley, and the experience stays with you long after the ride.

4. Vassieux plateau meal food

   Vassieux is a village that was wiped out in a matter of days in the summer of 1944. In July 1944, in the weeks after D-Day, German troops attacked the Vercors, where thousands of Resistance fighters had gathered in the mountain fortress, and gliders landed on the Vassieux plateau, carrying soldiers who overran the defences. The village was burned, its people killed, and the Resistance was crushed. Today Vassieux holds a memorial and a museum, and has been honoured as a Compagnon de la Libération, one of the few communities to receive the title.

   The plateau itself is a high, open, windswept upland at around a thousand metres, with meadows, scattered farms and the long, grey wall of the Vercors cliffs to the east. In summer it is a green, peaceful pasture, and in winter it can be buried in snow. The sky is huge, the air thin and clear, and the sense of space is a pleasant change after the narrow valleys and cliffs of the Royans.

   For a meal, the plateau has a few simple restaurants and farm inns, serving the hearty food of the mountains: gratins, trout, charcuterie, walnut cake and the blue cheese of the Vercors, the Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, a mild, creamy cheese made from cow's milk that has its own protected name. Opening hours are short and tables are limited in the low season, so check ahead if you can, and expect the kitchen to close in the early afternoon.

   The riding here is a pleasure: wide, sweeping roads across the plateau, with wide views and light traffic, and a good surface. The descent toward Die, over the Col de Rousset and through its tunnel, is a long, winding run with views over the Drôme valley. Weather can change quickly on the plateau, with fog, cold wind and sudden storms, so carry layers. In winter, the roads can be icy or closed.

   Fuel is not available on the plateau in any reliable way, so fill up at Saint-Jean-en-Royans or in Die, about fifteen kilometres from here, and arrive with enough in the tank to reach the next supply.

5. Back to Voiron finish

   Back at Voiron. That is the ride.

Where this sits

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