Long-distance European Route

[DoctorRad]

For those looking to tackle something long-distance in Europe, this might provide some ideas:

http://www.grande-traversee-alpes.com/chemins-du-soleil

The 'full' route is from Lake Geneva to the Atlantic coast. I rode near the coast in February and can confirm that the terrain is fabulous riding. There is a huge MTB scene over in France (they call it VTT - Velo Tout-Terrain) but information on the web can be sketchy, unfortunately. The upside is that French maps are generally very good, and there are few if any access issues.

[JCPayen]

You're right , DoctorRad, I can confirm the terrain is fabulous riding !
For those are interested of doing this trail, I can give them the GPS tracks of the route.
I can give you any other information if you need it.
If somebody needs help for another route in France, I can help you. Pyrénées, Massif central, Provence (where I live)...no problem, you can contact me.

[AlanG]

I rode the Grenoble to Nice section of this route last spring and I'd agree that it is fantastic riding. The northern section from Grenoble to Geneva/Thonon was still in the planning stage at that time, scheduled to be complete by 2013. Anyone know more on this?

It would make a great ultra race route and there are plans to map out a link to the trans Jura trail from near Basel in Switzerland which would make it a very long stretch of hilly terrain.

I noticed on over on Trackleaders last month that someone was doing a Calais to Nice recon which looked like it used the Chemins du Soleil for the southern half of the route.
Maybe there's a French Tour Divide coming soon?  I hope so.

Alan

[JCPayen]

For the northern section from Grenoble to Geneva/Thonon, you can find informations from the following site :
 http://www.openrunner.com/

Unfortunatly, the site is only in French. But maybe you speak French ? In this case...no problem!
If not, you can proceed in this way :

Trail number : 1256961 (write this number in the case named "rechercher des parcours") From Grenoble to Chamberry
You can unload the GPS file.

You can find many informations on the other web site :
http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps

For the routes between Chamberry and Thonon, click on the "rechercher" button after having clicked on the combo list "Dept" and informed "Haute Savoie"
You can unload the GPS files too.

I did the route few years ago, but in the other direction, from Annecy to Gap. I can give you the track if you want to.
I'm not sure my explanations are very clear, I can help you if you need more informations.

[ChrisE]

Did a similar route.  details are here

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/with-pics-the-best-adventure-best-ride-ever-gr5-transalp

I am from the UK, you can email me if you need pdf maps, planning spreadsheets etc.  email is chris$$@$high$bark.co.$uk taking out the dollars

C

[DoctorRad]

Chris, why not put your route details up onto Google Docs or Dropbox and post the links? Would save you having to reply to each person individually. Looks like an awesome route and right up my street if I ever have the time and fitness.

[dgjessee]

I'm sure it's there and I'm missing it. But where is the information on the website about the trails all the way to the Atlantic? At the beginning of this post it was said the complete route is from the Atlantic.