Hi forum, new user here, so apologies for starting with a road biking question!

I’m heading to Morzine in a couple of weeks with a mixed group of mountain bikers and road bikers. I’m taking my roadbike as I figure it will be nicer to ride my own than hire one, but I’ll probably hire a mountain bike for a couple of days.

Does anyone have any route recommendations for roadies? I’m thinking of 50-70mile routes rather than centuries as I’m there for a week, but it would be good to get a big ride in too…

Thanks!

Plenty of good routes from Morzine. Up to the lake at Avoriaz or to the south to Sameons over the Col du Joux Plane. The road down to Les Gets and Tangine is a bit busy but a complete blast (down). If you go over to Sameons then ride to the Fer a Cheval. The climb to Samoens ski station (D254) is a tuff. Much harder than the Joux Plane. From Samoens you can head south again via Cluses

the tourist info shop has little booklets of climbs/routes – with distance, gradients, time, toughness etc, they are also little waymarkers by the road.
i love that area…

The obvious big climbs up to avoriaz – check out both ways – the route via the lac de montroid is really pretty and the main road is a blast up.
morzine to the col du joux plane and then drop into samoen before turning round and redoing it all is fun as well.
I looked at route of the moraine sportive and got some ideas as well.

Fun riding there

Thanks Tony, I’ll make a note of those places and have a look on the map. Cheers!

Not sure how fit you are, but obviously there is a lot more climbing over there! I did a single morning, looped up from Morzine to Avoriaz and down past the lake. Awesome ride really really scenic. It was first year with a road bike and I’ve not done much serious climbing so 2hrs was enough for me!

Tip – go out early in the morning it gets really hot
http://www.strava.com/activities/74334158

There are some great loops there from road riding friends.

I did the Route d’Avoriaz climb, and being from the mountainous region of Hampshire, a hours climbing was pretty brutal. And depressing to see how fast some people can do it.

I quickly got back on my MTB and used the lifts 🙂

Keep meaning to do the 21 turns when out at the Mega, but never seem to man up and get it done. Maybe I’ll take my road bike again and do it one evening this year.

Not sure how fit you are, but obviously there is a lot more climbing over there!

Good point! I’m a middling Cat3, 40 years old, big engine that likes long efforts as long as it’s not too steep!

I ride Majorca every spring, so used to 1hr+ climbs!

Some great pointers here chaps, thanks for taking the time to reply so quickly!

@kudos I stayed with SkiBlueRidge just outside Les Gets and they get quite a few road riders and the owner does more road riding than mtb-ing these days. As above there are a few TdF climbs in the area you can loop in.

BTW the MTB descent from Joux Plane to Samoens is excellent, normally its a taxi back up to Lake or direct to Morzine but perhaps you are the type to ride it back up on the MTB !

Thanks Jambalaya, I’m definitely going to look at hiring an MTB, but I might go for something with a bit of travel and do some uplifting.

Daft question, but are the hire bikes all “left-hand drive”? ie, euro brakes?

Get in touch with Tri4thealps- did ten days with them last year.

They may be happy for you to tag along on some guided rides and the pace is good (there were two pro triathletes out there last year – look up Brad Kahlefeldt – he can ride a bit!)

The avoriaz via montriand loop is good but only about 80 mins even without killing it.

Joux plan from sameons is good.

Down to lake geneva and round the lake is good (although circa 160 miles without a lift back!)

Ride over to flaine and up that climb is good.

You’ll have an awesome time – roads are amazing.

James

Lake Geneva looks beautiful, but 160 miles is probably a bit more than I’d be comfortable with! I’ll give that company a google though, cheers James!

The Col du Corbier and Col du Trechauffe are worth checking out and make a nice little route when done together. The views from the top of the Trechauffe are amazing.

Corbier
http://www.strava.com/segments/674683
Trechauffe (Bottom)
http://www.strava.com/segments/2472840
Trechauffe (Top)
http://www.strava.com/segments/4692080

Loads of routes here:

http://www.morznet.com/account/pdf_uploader/uploaded_pdf
/morzine_road_bike_routes.pdf

@kudos – yes rental bikes have euro brake setup, if you ask (and ideally book in advance) you can have it switched round. The Samoens descent makes a great way to finish a days riding, eg Morzine to Les Gets, ride the trails there then lift to the top before they shut, ride round road to Joux Plane do the descent (email me for a map) have a beer in Samoens and have a pre-booked taxi and trailer pick you up from there to take you back to Morzine. SkiBlueRidge can help with pickup FYI.

Thanks again mate, my biggest concern is riding off-road with the brakes back to front… Seems like an easy way to remove my front teeth!!