Another year, another fantastic bikepacking adventure down in the South of France. Amazing scenery, steep climbs, technical trails, exciting downhills, perched villages and wine to die for…..a route to recommend.
We did only a section of the over 400km Traversee, Staying to the south of Mont Ventoux, in the region of the Month de Vaucluse and Luberon, putting together a circuit starting and finishing in Fontaine de Vaucluse, itself a popular tourist village (the full traverse starts to the north of Mont Ventoux – we will go back one day to complete it). 5 days of brilliant cycling followed, punctuated with overnights in gite d’etapes – like the system of mountain refuges in the Alps – where you can sleep and eat all at a very reasonable cost. Also means lighter bikes 😉
The only thing we hadn’t reckoned with was what the month of April is known for in this region: the Mistral. If you’ve never met this wind, it is hard to describe just how difficult it makes things. It swirls around on exposed ridges, hits you from different directions all at the same time and the gusts often stopped us dead in our tracks, even coasting downhill. It made us think twice before committing to tracks with steep drop-offs….
https://www.vaucluse.fr/fileadmin/Documents_PDF/Nos_territoires/Sports_et_citoyennete/Vaucluse_terre_de_velo/2018-grande_traversee_VTT_velo.pdf
1 Comment
Looks great!