The Road to Ubine.

Whilst the Abondance valley may not be famous for its regular appearance in the Tour de France, it is a truly stunning area. The Abondance is a long twisting valley that finishes on top of the Col de Bassachaux. From Lac Leman and Evian les Bains, it is the gateway to the Alps and one of the routes into Switzerland. For a fortnight in August, my family and I had the pleasure of staying in a traditional mountain chalet hidden up a steeply sided, wooded ravine almost 1000m above sea level. It wasn't a cycling holiday as such and the activities we took part in ranged from swimming in the big lakes, walking up and down mountains, cable car rides, mountain trains, luge, glacier exploring, boat trips, eating and more eating. I did also have the time to explore an area of beautiful mountain country at a leisurely pace by bicycle, without anyone trying to give me a good kicking, which is usually the case when I do any cycling in the Alps.

I have had the great pleasure of many alpine cols over the last five or six years but this was the first time that I have been able to pour over a detailed map and explore some of the dead end climbs and minor roads that are well off the beaten track. Whilst the comparably smaller ascents around this area are much shorter than some of the well known tour climbs and reach altitudes of less than 2000m, they can be savagely steep and have very poor road surfaces that often turn into rough tracks.

The climb to Ubine was my first ascent of the holiday and being only 8 or 9km from the bottom I was surely not going to struggle too much. Wrong! The road was in poor condition and became very steep at about the halfway point. I wasn’t half as fit as I thought I was and I grimaced like a medieval flagellant grinding first gear slower and slower with every turn of the pedals. The road clung to a sheer rock face and was strewn with assorted stones and mini boulders that had at some point fallen from high up the mountain. Very hot and very uncomfortable, I didn't feel much like the alpine warrior that I had thought I was 5km before. I was only glad that nobody could see me.

The road moved into woodland and the gradient became less difficult to deal with. The tree’s eventually gave way to lush green alpine pasture and the ringing of cowbells filled the warm evening air. The huge rock faces of Mont Chauffe came into sight and the road came to an end at the little refuge of Ubine. At the cross I was standing at 1500m. The surrounding landscape was a picture of serine alpine beauty that made the effort all the more worthwhile. From Ubine there are several rough paths that lead to high mountain chalets and a rendezvous with the GR5 path along the Franco/Swiss border. It’s a place that only a cyclist or walker could ever discover.

The descent was tricky with the poor road surface giving a very bumpy ride. Much of it was with the brakes on and it took a lot of concentration weaving in out of the tight bends and avoiding rocks randomly scattered in my path. When I returned back to the house I felt as though I'd done a lot more than the 17 miles my computer was telling me I'd done.

Most of the rides I did were quite short and only once did my average pace register above 15mph. I did some of the smaller cols to the west and one day followed the Abondance river to its origins and up the 1778m Col de Basachaux. A ride to Morzine allowed me to do the loop around to Avoriaz up the Col de la Joux Verte and down the ever twisting descent to Lac Montriond. At the village of Les Lidarets there were more goats than people. The goats were one of the many hazards of this particular descent as well as a line of camper vans taking up far too much space on the narrow road. This was my longest ride at 48 miles and involved the Col du Corbier in both directions.

The bigger road over the Col du Corbier was probably the fastest of all the descents I went down. It takes around 45 minutes to ascend while the descent is over in just under six. One of my rides saw me catch and pass an Audi A4 only to get stuck behind a people carrying Renault who did his best to stop me overtaking. I flew past him dropping into a tight hairpin and he sounded his horn and shook his French fist at me. After the next series of tightly grouped hairpins he was a long way back, unable to match the my manoeuvrability and the irresistible urge for my 10kg bike to plummet down the mountain at gravity induced speed. It's a great buzz when you get to grips with it and an awesome experience.

By the end of the fortnight I felt that I’d only scratched the surface of something I really enjoy. The smaller roads of the mountains and the hidden away Cornets, Corniche, Cols, Pointes, Monts and marmottes are a world away from the lanes and byways I normally traverse. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of an adventure, solitude and some good old fashioned bike riding and exploring.

Chris Riley.