Col de Rousset & Vercors

We spend a lot of time looking at maps each day, and now Claire has even started playing at route planning too. She maybe could have planned a more relaxed day for us... but since she wasn't in charge, we headed up the Col de Rousset first thing in the morning, slowly pedalling up the many switchbacks and climbing over 900 m from Die over 22 km. Once through the tunnel at the top, we were caught in low cloud for many hours as we descended from the little ski hill at the col down through more agricultural villages in the Vercors. Our plan to camp at a roadside air de bivouac in Saint Julien en Vercors started feeling less than ideal with drizzle starting up on top of the already saturated soil. Knowing that there might be the potential to stay with the relatives of good friends in Villard de Lans, Holly made the connection and Cécile and Michel gratiously accepted to host us on short notice, but the 'cost' was 20 km more of biking with more elevation gain to get to their place. Our route took us through the Gorges de la Baume, making the extra effort very rewarding along the stunning balcony road, and resulting in a very big day - 1700 m of climbing over 70 km.Read more