Ally was the last to arrive, but he was right on time.

“It’s always the one who lives closest who arrives last” I told him.

Ricardo, Ryan and I had all travelled at least 10km to get to the meeting point at the bus stop in Versonnex (we always say meet at the bakery but really, we meet at the bus stop).

Ally only lives 500m away from this glamorous meeting spot, hence why he can time it to perfection.

We were all dressed up warm due to the icy cold Bise wind that had been blowing hard for the previous days, but it felt quite pleasant at 9am. One reason perhaps because I’d been climbing all the way there from downtown Geneva.

Today was going to be a special ride. Ally was back from the US for a short visit, and he wanted to get up into the Jura mountains that loom over the French villages to the north of Geneva.

I’d left home that morning around 40 mins earlier, to give myself plenty of time to get through the town and knowing the uphill route to the meet, I didn’t want to pushing myself too hard to make it on time.

Once out past the airport at Collex, there’s a steep uphill stretch to reach the water tower – and then the road passes through the woods to Versonnex where we met. They’ve upgraded the bike path into Versonnex over the past few years and now it is a pleasure to ride up and into the village, totally separated from the traffic.

We spent a few minutes chatting, catching up and admiring Ryan’s always eclectic wardrobe before heading off up the road towards Cessy and Gex. The road continues to rise all the way to the foot of the Col de la Faucille in Gex.

Ally managed to show us a new and completely impractical way through the town to the start of the climb, and the less said about that the better.

The first few kms of the climb take you through the outskirts of Gex as the road winds around the houses and small developments. The gradient is never too steep, and the company made for a nice start to the climb.

In total the road to the col is 11.4km at an average of 6.3%.

Ally had a smart idea (which he very quickly regretted) of taking a steep shortcut to remove about 700m of the usual climb – but normally I stay on the main road the whole way.

Views out over the Geneva basin soon started to open up– particularly when you turn the hairpin at the Refuge de Florimont. You can see right across to the Salève, out over the lake and to the Alps beyond. Simply beautiful.

The climb only really bites at the Napolean fountain, where it ramps up to almost 8% for 1.5km. I was feeling pretty good however and the legs kept spinning nicely all the way to to the col.

We knew things were going to get chilly over the back of the Jura and we had a 7km descent down to Mijoux. Jackets were put on and snoods pulled up over mouths.

There was still snow in the shade as we tried to spin the legs to keep warm while also being careful on the damp, shaded, cracked roads.

Following the descent we re-grouped at the entrance to the village, beside the redundant ski lifts, thankfully in the bright spring sunshine.

The route follows a sharp turn off the road we were descending and takes you out towards Valserine golf club (no golf being played on the frozen greens this specific morning however!).

The sun was most welcome as we pedalled up the road christened “Shangri La” by one of our number in the distant past. This is a road we normally descend but is a great way to climb out of Mijoux. 7km at 3.3% it was just what we needed to warm us up, without taxing the legs too heavily.

After briefly stopping to remove jackets and take photos at the old abandoned mini-cat-mobile, we made swift work of the climb to Tabognoz and from there I wrestled on my gloves for the fast downhill through the ski station of La Dôle to the Franco / Suisse border at La Cure.

The short climb up and over the Col de la Givrine was quickly done and we stopped for a much-needed coffee and cake in Saint Cergue.

The descent back down from the Jura is magnificent (more so since they removed the rumble strips on the road).

Then with the wind at our backs we travelled west towards Geneva, with the rolling roads never too harsh on rather tired legs.

This is a fabulous early season route, getting in some decent climbing, on quiet roads, that are never too steep.

It helps to have excellent company as well. Ally was the last to leave me as I headed back home to central Geneva.

Hope to have you back again soon.

Springing into the Jura

Tour du Salève