After a long bend, there's a ringing under the tyres. We stop and flinch: Shell casings! Dozens of them are scattered on the sandy track. I pick up one of the shiny pieces and hold it up to the light between my thumb and index finger. "They can't have been lying here for long, they look like new." Tour colleague Christian nods. We look round. There's probably a wild boar hunt going on. Barely two bends further on, we pass a cluster of houses at the side of the road. All of them are destroyed. Some have huge holes in the walls. The roofs of others have been torn off. But before we can think about the cause, Christian points to a burnt-out tank in the distance. Have we landed in a theatre of war?
We listen and scan the sun-scorched mountain flanks in all directions. It's as quiet as a mouse. Only a few white butterflies flutter like peace flags through the withered blades of grass. Okay, quickly onwards. It can't be far to the summit. The trail that we discovered this morning from the gorge should start up there. But the sandy road doesn't look particularly promising. It loops around the mountain relatively flat instead of climbing up to the summit. Then, finally, a fork. We take the right fork, which shortly afterwards actually becomes a path. Unfortunately, it doesn't lead any further uphill, but rather jaggedly downhill. No matter, the trail is fun and soon becomes more and more enjoyable to ride. Further down, the path is flanked by a kind of trench. Soldiers crouch in it, pointing their rifles at our path. It takes a few seconds before the shock hits us in the middle of the flow. We've just crossed a real troop exercise! Horrified faces on both sides. In a kind of state of shock, we put the pedal to the metal. Just get out of here! Shattered houses fly past in the corner of our eyes, bomb craters, burnt fields - at some point we finally reach the road that will save us!
That was in 1989, when we had just started mountain biking and fortunately survived this stupidity unscathed. But that's not the only reason why I still remember the tour.
25 years later, I am now back to tackle La TransVerdon again. This time with a good map and GPS device. Along for the ride were the two enduro riders Mario Lentzen and Julia Hofmann. From the Col d'Allos, where the Verdon rises, we will follow the river for 260 kilometres on its way south. Until it finally curves through its famous canyon gorge at Gréoux-les-Bains. The route has now even been signposted: it is now called the "Grande Traversée VTT La TransVerdon" and is officially one of the eight longest mountain bike routes in France. The GPS data has long been available on the internet and there are plenty of "gîtes" along the route where you can stay overnight and eat well. The fact that the route does not run directly along the river, but climbs over the mountains of French Provence, is revealed by the metres in altitude: There are a total of 8000 metres to conquer.
You don't follow the river directly along its banks. The route leads over the mountains to the right and left of the Verdon. If you come in June, you will float through a sea of lavender on the way.
We started yesterday in the Maritime Alps at the Allos Pass. Since then, we have been travelling south above the tree line and following the ridge of a long mountain ridge. A blue sky shines above us. To the left, the view sweeps over the sea of peaks of the Mercantour National Park. "If you liked the trail down from the Allos Pass so much, just wait and see what tomorrow brings!", the landlord of the Hotel Pascal enthused to us the evening after the first stage. Pascal Gauidin is a passionate mountain biker himself and was instrumental in the development of the TransVerdon route.
"He said seventy, didn't he?" Unfortunately, the ascent to this trail wonder is quite long, so we try to shorten this feat of strength by looking forward to the announced downhill trail. "Yep!", Mario presses out in the rhythm of his pedalling: "Seventy! With a fun factor of one hundred!" When we finally reach the top of the pass, we look down into the valley of St. André les Alpes with excitement - and discover only two hairpin bends. We'll soon find out whether there really are 70 bends in total, as advertised. At the very top, the path obviously has to get into its groove. Bend one, then bend two. But soon the path really does change direction in quick succession. A seemingly endless back and forth in the dense pine forest. Further down, the frequency decreases again until we finally come to a halt in St. André. Of course, nobody counted again. But what a rush of bends!
In St. André, we stop at a small bar for a café au lait and a few croissants before tackling the next long climb of the day. This time on a forest road that is not too steep. It leads us up to a plateau with far-reaching views: Down in the valley, the Lac de Castillon shimmers in a vibrant green, with the sun-dried mountains of Provence undulating behind it. Golden-brown colours as far as the eye can see. It smells like my mum's spice cupboard. Three mushroom pickers come walking towards us with bulging baskets. Unfortunately, they don't invite us to lunch, but point over their shoulders with their thumbs and warn us: "Très difficile!" Unfortunately, they turned out to be right. Less than ten metres further on, the forest road ends abruptly and only ripples down the mountain flank as a trickle of its own: a technically difficult, blocked path. But at some point, we can recognise a lane again and the road begins to flow again. We are still in the saddle as we roll down to Castellan, where the famous part of the Verdon Gorge begins.
The "Grand Canyon of France" is one of the largest, most beautiful and best-known gorges in Europe. Over a length of 21 kilometres, the Verdon has carved its way up to 700 metres deep into the rock. As the gorge was declared a nature reserve in 1990, biking in it is unfortunately prohibited. The TransVerdon route therefore continues to balance over the mountains on the right-hand side of the gorge.
As if in a frenzy, we shoot through young spruce forest to the banks of the Verdon. Finally we can touch the water!
It is still very early in the morning as we roll through the mountain village of Rougon. In front of the crêperie Le Mur d'Abeilles, the landlord is sweeping the street. No, he won't open for another two hours, he says, but he knows what we can do in the meantime. The man doesn't exactly look like a mountain biker, so we hesitantly follow him the few steps behind his shop. But a trail actually starts here, which circles down into the gorge in a very promising way. The man laughs when he sees our eyes light up. Yes, yes, he has seen many bikers ride down there. "It's supposed to be one of the best trails in the region!" he adds with obvious pride. Rock slabs pave this path. Some of them are still a little damp from the morning dew, but still offer enough grip. As if in a frenzy, we descend hundreds of metres in altitude through young spruce forest until we finally come to a halt on the banks of the Verdon. Finally we can touch the turquoise-coloured river water! We climb back up out of the gorge to the village of Rougon via a gravel road. By now, the pans in the crêperie are also hot, so we treat ourselves to the most delicious crêpes of the entire tour.
We have now been travelling for six days. We actually wanted to have covered much more distance by today. But our trail detours have taken more time than expected. But what the heck. We have already experienced the most scenic part of the route. So we end our trip with a descent on the Roman road to Moustiers St. Marie and a final overnight stay at the Gîte Ségriès. The hut looks like it's straight out of a Provence advertising catalogue. And its landlord, Noël, cooks like one too. His roast wild boar is so juicy and tender that it almost melts in the mouth. He then serves us homemade ice cream flavoured with lavender, honey, fig and thyme. When Noël finally brings us our coffee, he sits down at the table with us. He offers to show us where the meat we've just had on our plates comes from. There are plenty of wild boar trails to discover here. He has cleared many kilometres of them around his house especially for mountain bikers. Too bad, we don't have time for that. But I would still be interested to know if the military zone that we got into 25 years ago still exists? Noël opens his eyes in surprise: "Yes, it's south-west of here. But you're not allowed to bike there!" I grin and nod.
INFO
The Grande Traversée VTT La TransVerdon measures a total of 260 kilometres and has 8000 metres of altitude on the hump. The starting point is the 2247 metre high Col d'Allos in the Mercantour National Park. This is the source of the Verdon River, which you follow southwards on this route to the Verdon Gorge.
Claim The tour is officially divided into 15 stages, but can easily be completed in a week. The descents in the first sections are often tricky, but towards the end of the route they become increasingly easy to ride.
Best touring time If you want to experience the famous lavender blossom, you should arrive between mid-June and mid-September. However, July and August are often too hot for biking.
Accommodation The gîtes (huts) always offer half board. During the day you can eat in the villages and huts.
All info Maps, GPS data, precise route descriptions and accommodation and organiser addresses are available at www.vtt.alpes-haute-provence.fr
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