MTB in France

That we came to bike through the French Alps from the Riviera was not really planned in advance. We biked up from Nice and camped in Auron, Jausiers, Briancon, Modane, Val d´Isère, Fumet, Chamonix, and in St Maurice in Switzerland. Far more time was spent on road then off road. Nevertheless, it was a great journey, crossing one high pass after another. Traffic was light and camping was cheaper and nicer than in Italy. Not to mention the exellent food and the wine. As we were short of time we only had a few days to look for singletrack. We stayed a day in Val d´Isère, which felt awkward, as the place is literally a ghost town in summer, so desperate for tourists that the town invites 4WD vehicles for rallies. Most hotels and shops were closed. We spent a day climbing up between the mountains between Val d´Isèse and Tignes. There were steep fire roads, with quite a few tourists riding their 4WD vehicles, and we rode some high single track in poor weather. We did not see any other bikers. Would we go back to Val d´Isère? No, not for mountainbiking though the place would be great for skiing. Chamonix was a lot more fun. In summertime it is lively, full of people who hike or climb or just have fun. Resturants and cafés are crowded. And, there are some good mountainbike trails. There is an excellent site Mountain Biking in Chamonix with route descriptions. We had a splendid outing cycling a path known as Petit Balcon Nord. It traverses the western and nothern walls of the valley and consists of moderately technical singletrack. It also has some switchbacks that are great fun. Would we go back to Chamonix? Yes, absolutely. The town has a great ambience, is one the classic Alp resorts, and the singletrack we did was good. And, most important the local authorities have taken a friendly attitude towards mountainbiking. On the whole cycling in France was a positive experience. We would absolutely like to have more of it. One thing we learned that summer is that the best singletrack is not necessarily where the mountains are highest. We passed several major resorts that offered inviting MTB-trails in the surrounding hills and mountains: e.g., Auron and Briancon.	Camping in Auron	Approaching Col de la Bonette	Col de la Moutière 2823
Café at the top	Looking back at Col de la Bonette 2802	Col de Vars 2111
Approaching Col de du Lautaret	Col du Lautaret 2059	Ascent on Col du Galiber
Col Du Galiber 2645		Ascent Col d´Iseran
Col d´Iseran 2762	Val d´Isére	Isére from a high tour
Val d´Isére camping	Mont Blanc	Mont Blanc
Camping in Chamonix	Singletrack on Petit Balcon Nord	Chamonix town
Mont Blanc towering above	Breaking camp	Col de Montets
Martigny from above	South shore of Lac le Man	Camping in Genève
Genève		Boxing up the bikes

That we came to bike through the French Alps from the Riviera was not really planned in advance. We biked up from Nice and camped in Auron, Jausiers, Briancon, Modane, Val d´Isère, Fumet, Chamonix, and in St Maurice in Switzerland. Far more time was spent on road then off road. Nevertheless, it was a great journey, crossing one high pass after another. Traffic was light and camping was cheaper and nicer than in Italy. Not to mention the exellent food and the wine.

As we were short of time we only had a few days to look for singletrack. We stayed a day in Val d´Isère, which felt awkward, as the place is literally a ghost town in summer, so desperate for tourists that the town invites 4WD vehicles for rallies. Most hotels and shops were closed. We spent a day climbing up between the mountains between Val d´Isèse and Tignes. There were steep fire roads, with quite a few tourists riding their 4WD vehicles, and we rode some high single track in poor weather. We did not see any other bikers.

Would we go back to Val d´Isère? No, not for mountainbiking though the place would be great for skiing.

Chamonix was a lot more fun. In summertime it is lively, full of people who hike or climb or just have fun. Resturants and cafés are crowded. And, there are some good mountainbike trails. There is an excellent site Mountain Biking in Chamonix with route descriptions. We had a splendid outing cycling a path known as Petit Balcon Nord. It traverses the western and nothern walls of the valley and consists of moderately technical singletrack. It also has some switchbacks that are great fun.

Would we go back to Chamonix? Yes, absolutely. The town has a great ambience, is one the classic Alp resorts, and the singletrack we did was good. And, most important the local authorities have taken a friendly attitude towards mountainbiking.

On the whole cycling in France was a positive experience. We would absolutely like to have more of it. One thing we learned that summer is that the best singletrack is not necessarily where the mountains are highest.

We passed several major resorts that offered inviting MTB-trails in the surrounding hills and mountains: e.g., Auron and Briancon.