This weekend I cycled and I hiked. The bike ride was up to the Combe Blanche, and the hike was from Vallorbe to Croy-Romainmôtier.
The Col de la Combe Climb For the bike ride we rode from Nyon heading towards Crans before heading up to La Rippe, and from La Rippe we went along for a bit before heading up the Col De La Combe Blanche. it’s a 13 kilometre climb with around 1300m of climbing.
Today I tried route 473 which goes from the Morges Train Station towards Montricher and across, before heading back down to the lake side. This is a 57 or so kilometre loop along roads that were quite quiet. I don’t know whether that was because of the rain forecast or because people are on holiday.
The route from Morges up and out of Morges goes along a short voie verte where there are parts that are not tarmacced so be ready for that.
Over the last week I have cycled, and climbed over 3000m. Yesterday I climbed 1664 meters over an 89 kilometre ride. It was divided into the first climb, from the Léman towards La Cure, then a flat bit, ridden fast, before getting to the climb to Marchairuz and that is when I ran out of power.
I wasn’t hungry, or thirsty. My legs were fatigued, after climbing up the Jura on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Yesterday evening I went for a group ride but rather than riding for an hour or so to get to Geneva I rode to the centre of Nyon. I rode to the old garage that was transformed into a café called Tête de Course. This is where the TDC group meet before starting their Thursday evening bike ride. Social Rides
Three Groups The group split into three groups. Group 1 was the fastest, and then group 2, and finally group 3.
If you’re ready to use buses and trains opportunities for walks and hikes open up. Yesterday’s hike, for example, was possible because we parked the cars in Marchairuz before catching a bus to Le Pont. That’s where we met another part of the group before hiking from le Pont, to the Col de Mollendruz. From here we saw the defensive Toblerones before heading back down.
I didn’t expect that the path would take us back down, lower than the road, through the trees for a while, before getting to a clearing and a parking where the smell of barbecue was present.
This weekend I went on two hikes. The first was from St-Cergue to La Dôle and back and the second was from Marchairuz to St Cergue. It amounts to about 66,000 steps and thirty four kilometres of hiking. The La Dôle walk is a familiar walk that I have from multiple directions over the years so it was relaxing. There were some patches of snow where appropriate shoes and crampons or hiking sticks will help but other than that the conditions are good.
When I went snowshoeing as a child I was photographed and it was used by the St Cergue Tourism board. I still have that poster in a room. Since then I went snowshoeing a few years ago and didn’t really enjoy it. The snowshoes didn’t feel comfortable. A few weeks ago I saw that people were planning a snowshoeing trip so I checked that they were set to my snowshoe size but skipped.
The Cascade Du Flumen are in the Jura, on the French side. They can be accessed either with a 1.6km walk from a large parking nearby that requires going over a few pot holes or down a steep path with loose scree. What makes the waterfalls so spectacular is that they are formed not by water flowing over a cliff and falling to the ground. They are formed by holes in the rock allowing water that has been through underground caves to seep through the rocks.
Yesterday I cycled from Haute-Morges to Nyon along the top. I did this because I was curious to see what route the GPS would recommend. The natural thing to do would be to cycle downhill towards Rolle and the lake. Trees and a meadow in a road bend
The Route
Instead I cycled upwards towards Montricher. From there I cycled west vila Mollens to Bière, and from there, down and across towards Saurraz, Marchissy, Le Vaud before Bassins, Le Muid and then finally down from Genolier towards Trelex and from Trelex down through Grens before heading down towards Nyon.
The most striking thing about a winter with little to no snow is that there is no noise. Normally ski lifts clank, people talk and there is a lot of noise
When there has been very little snow the ski lifts are turned off and the mountains are quiet. This is when you realise the impact of winter sports.
In summer you hear cowbells.