So we’re going down to the alps near Briancon for a bit of kayaking. But want to take bikes too.

Whats the trail biking like there? Looks like there’s some stuff in Serre Che. Anything else good? Been there a few times winter and summer but never with bikes!

Cheers!

Your too early for the lifts so it’s a lot of pedalling. If you can face the ride up to montgenevre the ride down to Briancon through the trees down past the old fort is top drawer. Serre has some ok trails but no idea what they’ll be like in may/June after the winter. Grab yourself a copy of the alps guidebook, but tbh I’d take a road bike that time of year for a couple of days off, you can do the galiber and the other local cols and go back in July with bikes!

Thanks for the tips! That road from montgenevre is steep. Will definitely go and explore there then!
I forgot to say we will be going at the end of june. Just doing a bit of planning now and trying to decide which bike to take!

I think you’ll just miss the lifts, serre opens first weekend in July and I think the rest in the area are the same. Montgenvre is a drive/ride anyway. Somewhere I’ve wanted to explore for a while down there is the vallouise area, if your paddling the gir/onde it’s up there. Looks like there are a lot of marked circuit routes that don’t rely on lifts or huge climbs.

Might be worth a mooch, last years piste map: http://static.apidae-tourisme.com/filestore/objets-touristiques/documents/184/112/1667256.pdf

Camp at l’argentiere – I think you could start and finish at the campsite, ride in the hills finish with pizza and beer and a few runs of the slalom course or a dusk run down the Gironde.. Bliss!

Do a car shuttle take the bikes up in the car up to the Col Du Galibier there is a track that you can ride down into Serre Chevalier just off the road you cant miss it. Great day out. Nothing technical but amazing views and you can get some speed up!

You can get a map from the bike shops in Serre Chevalier i have found a poor quality one on google

http://www.stylealtitude.com/images/vtt-mtb-routes-serre-chevalier.jpg

On the same website you can find… http://www.stylealtitude.com/mtb-vtt-cycling-briancon-serre-chevalier.html message Gavin who runs the website. He lives part of the year in the area and knows it well. If he’s not around when you’re there he might know people you could ride with.

We rode the GR5 route from Briancon to Nice last summer, taking in a loop to the north of Briancon first, if you want i’ve put it all on my website, there’s plenty photos and some maps that will give you an idea of what it is like, search for GR5 Trip days 1,2 and 3. It isn’t lift assisted but it certainly is good!!

My Website

Some examples…

Yes, that is Briancon down there! (looking form the north here)

And down there… (looking from south)

There’s a bike park in Chantemerle (Guisanne valley) which is fun for a day. The red routes are very variable in their difficulty so if you do an easy red first you might find your 2nd red to be challenging.

Montgenevre bike park is also good for a day. The high stuff is good for the big mountain feel but the best riding is mid station down.

The local tourist info offices have a leaflet / map with natural rides of varying lengths and difficulties which are signposted as well (although critical signposts may be missing which may lead to some exploration biking before you find the correct route).I’d recommend taking the French equivalent of an OS map to help reduce the chance of exploration biking and avoid routes that cycle up red pistes (they’re steep and very hard work to push up at 30°C+).

The GR5 ride looks amazing, anus!

There’s a little bike park at Puy St Vincent too, good for a few hours’ play:

You can drop down to Vallouise on nice techy singletrack at the end.

You may just miss it though – opens on 9th July this year.

Bike Alp relocated there from Samoens last year. Perhaps you could do some riding with them. You can find them on facebook but they seem very social media shy, don’t need it I suspect

Can’t link facebook – search bike-alp also http://www.bike-alp.com

Thanks for the help folks. Much appreciated. The GR5 route looks amazing. Probably no time for something that long. But gives some idea of what the riding can be like.

Looking forward already!