Is it possible to ride over 5 cols in early April?

You definitely can if you take this superb early season ride in the Vallée Verte just outside of Geneva incorporating quiet roads, plenty of climbing, and stunning scenery.

I started from the flower clock in central Geneva and had left myself 30 minutes to get out to Seb’s place in Hermance where the rest of the group would be waiting.

I’d not quite factored in the strong, cold Bise wind that hit me as soon as headed out eastwards along the lakeshore towards the climb to Vésenaz.

This necessitated rather more hard work on the pedals than I would have liked at the start of what I knew was going to be quite a long day out. I hate to be late to meeting other riders, so really stepped on the gas most of the way out to our rendezvous.

I was nice and warm by the time I got out there, and thankfully I was a few minutes early too.

Bogdan and Glen soon showed up and we headed off, knowing that David and Kais would aim to catch us on the first col of the day up to Saxel.

The weather (wind excepted) was perfect, very clear air and brilliant sunshine illuminating us across the fields as we rode towards the climb to Ballaison.

Now, we always have a good discussion when cycling up this 4km stretch as to whether it is a col or not. Every year Seb organises a 10 Col Challenge in the Vallée Verte but always includes this climb at the beginning. So ultimately, we always end up doing 11 climbs, but as Seb insists, only 10 Cols.

We have finally decided this is a côte, “and anyway”, says Seb “it’s not in the Vallée Verte so it wouldn’t count even it was a mountain col!”

It gets the legs ready for what is to come whatever it is. And you have a fun descent the other side taking you into the outskirts of Bons-en-Chablais where the Col de Saxel awaits.

This is a wonderful entrance into the Vallée Verte, one of three main ways you can get there from this side of the valley. The other two are the Col de Cou (which we used to get back over to the lake at the end of the ride) and the lovely Col de Feu, which is quite a way further down the lake, starting at Orcier.

Climbing up Col de Saxel

The Saxel is a 8km ascent with a lovely average of around 5% for most of the way. This allowed us to get into a great rhythm and make our way steadily up the climb. We grouped up with David and Kais when we had to halt for an accident that had occurred halfway up the col and the 6 of us continued at a good pace over the top and down the other side into Boege.

It was here that Bogdan left us to go do his own thing (something about a 1hr40m at 320w effort that I was very glad to avoid!).

We turned up onto a lovely quiet road from central Boege that is signposted for Burdignin. This way avoids the busier road up the valley and is a great rolling climb with views across the fields and as you ascend, over the alps in the distance.

There is one steep pitch on this section, but for the most part it is a gentle climb at around 4% average.

Excuse the heavy breathing

We went up to the Col sign (out of principle), before dropping down to Habère Poche and turning for the short Col du Terramont. This is just 2.5km long and took us over and down to Lullin to the bakery for a coffee and something to eat.

On this climb Seb gave us a good education on the differences between red and black kites (Milan Royal and Milan Noir in French) as this time of year is when we see a lot of mating pairs of these birds (particularly the Black Kites) in and around Geneva.

After our well needed coffee stop, we went back the way we came for about 500m before turning right for the short sharp shock of the Col des Arces.

I’d never climbed this from this side before and was happy to be avoiding the Col de Feu from Lullin which is VERY steep.

But this climb turned out to be almost equally tough – but thankfully only 3km long. The gradient is up near to 10% for most of those 3km though, and with cold legs and the caffeine having not quite kicked it, it was a bit of a slog.

Seb and I chatted away though, as David and Kais climbed off into the distance. The views are spectacular looking east towards the mountains of the Portes du Soleil.

Once over the col, the route drops you back onto the road up to the Col de Cou, which we climbed once more.

We now knew that all the major climbing was done, and as a bonus we finally had the Bise wind at our backs.

We flew down the cold shaded descent and smashed the rolling roads back into Switzerland where we said goodbye to Seb and David at the border.

The road back down to the lakeshore was in complete contrast to the way out at the start of the ride, topping 50kmh and loving the sight of the sparkling water and the majestic Jet d’Eau welcoming Kais and I back home.

The Vallée Verte 5 Cols (and a Côte), a heavenly route to ride.

How Green is Your Valley?

Springing into the Jura