"With these fat tires, you drive everything to death!"", the accusation remains leaden in the room: Fortunately, we can reassure the other guests at Conny and Christian's guesthouse L'Aire de la SĂ©ranne that there is little to drive to death on the CĂ©vennes trails, but plenty to discover. After a few glasses of red country wine, the differences between conservationists and bikers are resolved - and together we rave about the magnificent landscape - and we find the golden eagles equally impressive.
We took a week to explore the CĂ©vennes, a southern foothill of the huge French Massif Central, by bike. This region with its magnificent canyons, karstic plateaus and huge chestnut forests had been on our trip wish list for a long time. And when our friend, photographer and mountain guide Stefan Neuhauser, said that he had long wanted to ride through the highlights of the CĂ©vennes by bike, as he had ridden the route so often, it was clear: we had to go again.
We set up our first stop at Conny and Christian's, from their enchanted little village there are plenty of great tours with magnificent descents and breathtaking views to discover.
A top-class biking area
A top-class biking area, although the facts don't sound very impressive; the highest CĂ©vennes mountain is just 1699 m high. Our first tour starts in St. Guilhem le Desert, passes Lavagne and then continues along the GR 74.
We chose the easy 12 km long tarmac road for the ascent. If you prefer a more challenging ride, you can climb up a phenomenal single trail along the Ruisseau river. Past the source of the Bueges, which gives its name to our little village. The river already gushes as a stream from a crystal-clear karst spring teeming with water snakes and frogs. Many castles, cypresses, olive groves, vineyards and countless spring flowers, poppies in the green barley fields, the air smells intensely of wild herbs and despite the still cool spring air, you can smell the nearby Mediterranean Sea.
