Biking in France is one of my top 3 favorite type/places to bike (Gravel & Fat biking are the other two). It is one of the only places I’ve consistently enjoyed road riding over the years.
My love for riding in France is the combination of familiar language, challenging terrain, incredible views, amazing culture, and respectful drivers that really add up to an awesome experience.
Within a kilometer of my accommodations for the next two weeks is a great climb called Col De Vence. Bonus!
This climb is a little over 2000 feet in just over 9km, making a nice medium grade of ~7%. My 42;32 1×10 gearing was *just* enough to handle this climb. Despite the gearing, it’s the (lack of) cardio that ends up being the limiter for me – sustained climbing fitness is not easy to acquire when in Eastern Ontario, especially during the winter months.
Soon this Col brought me into the open terrain that was littered with small rocks. Pavement had few cracks/potholes and the finish was a smooth chip-seal.
Once high enough you can get a really good feel for the layout of the land, where Southern Europe meets the Mediterranean.
Just to the North you can see the pre-Alps.
This was a really nice climb. The descent down was really quite manageable with no surprise corners and a reasonable pitch that kept speeds from being too crazy.