heading for 3 weeks in the MC area having done the Alps and Pyrenees a few times. Before i start planning proper can anyone suggest some good hills / cols in the area. We will be staying in the northern M.C. area.
cheers
IIRC Mont dore has some chairlift / DH tracks. Nice XC riding around the puys du dome
Uplift from Superbesse for DH, worth a days hire for some gravity assisted fun.(I think it was about E65 for a days hire and lift pass)
Pas de payrol a bit further south was in the Tour last year I think. The eatery on the pass can be highly recomended!
Road stuff? I toured around there in 2002, I think getting up to Mont Dore was a bit of a hill, it was also pretty epic on the Gorge (can't remember which one, was west of Saint Etienne) and the route west of that too over a moor (and east headwind 🙁 )
oh, should have said, taking the moots so its road im after...
Try sneaking up Puy de Dome 8)
http://inrng.com/2013/09/roads-to-ride-puy-de-dome/
I also rode Col de la Croix-Morand when I was touring on my mountain bike sometime last century. Summit was cloaked in mist and it was a cracking road descent, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_la_Croix-Morand
The view from the puy de dome is breathtaking.
And oone good thing about the train is that there are no cars at the top.
Look out for the retaining walls at the top station, I designed them...?
The obvious one is Pas de Peyrol. There are actually 3 routes to the top two of which are long but quite easy and one (from the Salers side) is shorter but has 2km of 12/13% at the end. It was in the TdF in 2016 when GvA won into Le Lioran.
Best route imho is to start in Aurillac and head to Salers on the back roads (& some minor cols) and thence to Pas de Peyrol. You can then descend back to Aurillac or, if you are feeling fresh, head over the Col du Perthus from Mandailles (short but steep) and then via the N122 or side roads to Aurillac.
It's a lovely part of the world.....
Oi. Mrs Mugsy: you should be working or looking after the thingies.
Anyway, I thought Puy de Dome was now closed for bikes (hence why this year's TCR stopped at Col de Ceyssat. There is still a private road up it though....
On 25 June there is an official ride up it: [url= http://puy-de-dome.ffct.org/evenements/pdd2017/pdd2017a.html ]click me[/url]
Marmot Tours operate a few trips in that area. Maybe check out their website for some inspiration.
We stayed near Perrier, and the area from there upto Besse and then Superbesse was littered with lovely twisty, hilly roads. If it's climbs and views you're after, you won't go wrong, but it's not alpine pass territory, more back lanes of Devon....
cheers all
I thought Puy de Dome was now closed for bikes
That's why you need to sneak up................