GTJ day 8 – way back homr: along the Doubs, Besançon to Mulhouse to Freiburg
I start off late-ish and try to find some nice trails before heading out of the Jura. Unfortunately, the recent rain has made even the forest roads so muddy that I have trouble getting up the hills. So I switch to the roads and ride out of the Jura, crossing the Loue...
GTJ day 7 – transfer stage Orange – Lyon – Arbois
Today I do some transferring by train, as I don't quite have enough time to ride back all the way. From Bedoin I ride back towards the Rhone, to Orange. The strong headwind is neutralised by the noticeable decline of the small roads until I join the Via Venaissia,...
GTJ day 6 – Le Mont Ventoux
From just before Montélimar, I start out towards the mythical cycling mountain of the Provence. The weather is dry, but overcast and I make decent progress and when the river breaks through the last hills, I leave the Rhone and head eastwards. Coming from the northern...
GTJ day 5 – Via Rhona
The morning starts damp, but not quite raining, and as I ride north along the Jura I see the dark clouds gathering above the mountains. The east looks sunnier and I decide to follow the Rhone on the Via Rhona cycle way to Lyon. The way into the city is easy along the...
GTJ day 4 – Flight along the Rhone
Two short but strong showers of rain in the morning make clear that I don't want to ride small trails or meadows today. Additionally, the forecast predicts thunderstorms for the early afternoon. So I decide to skip the last part of the mountainbike track of the Grande...
GTV day 3 – Le Haute Jura
I wake to a beautiful misty morning and ride down to Pontalier to shop for groceries and then on to Mouthe where I visit the source of the Doubs. The trails vary from smooth meadows to torn up forest paths but always with beautiful scenery. I finish the day on small...
GTV day 2 – Along the Doubs
After a less than restful night, du to an all night rave in the abandoned house across the river, I start off a bit groggy along the French-Swiss border, probably crossing and leaving Switzerland more often than I have before on my life. The weather is fine and the...
Grande Traversée du Jura – day 1
On a beautiful and hot summer afternoon I start out towards the Jura mountain range at the border of France and Switzerland. I hide from the heat in the trees among the familiar alsacian canals before I venture into the hills of the Sauvergne, picking up a few nice...
Trans Italia 2025 – day 20: Along the Ticino & San Gottardo
I start out early from Lugano and after one short hill, I ride down into valley just before Bellinzona and start following the Ticino river. I follow the river upstream into the Valle Leventina, which I already know from hiking and bouldering, but I'm pleasantly...
Trans Italia 2025 – day 19: along the Adda and into Switzerland
I ride along the Adda river today, basically from where I start just after Cremona to Merate, at the edge of the northern Italian lakes. This is a real river, with blue, clean water, and enough of it to swim. The roads and paths are very mixed again today. A very few...