This is the perfect route for those colder days, when you don’t want to climb too high, but want the feeling of being out of the city and riding in the foothills of the Alps.

The route starts from the Flower Clock by Jardin Anglais right at the end of Lac Leman.

The most recent time I rode this I was accompanied by some of my riding friends who subsequently rode up Le Salève, but I wasn’t ready to climb that much so early in the season.

So we rode together through the Geneva suburbs, past Chene Bougeries and crossed the border right beneath the Salève at Veyrier.

This is the only section of road where traffic can be an issue. It is only a short 3km stretch until the turn onto the Route du Salève but just keep your wits about you here.

When you hit the turn there’s a steep pitch up to the farm / chateau to shock the legs into action (here was where I knew I’d made the right decision not to go climbing with my friends).

The road curves around the end of the mountain, before hitting the steepest section of the whole ride with the climb up to Mornex. Here we picked up another cyclist, Alain, who was also planning on doing the same route as me, and who ended up being great company for the entire ride.

The road hits 9.5% at its steepest, but the hard gradients are soon over and once you’re through the village the road flattens out as the views open up towards the Alps.

Now you’re also in the sunshine and can get into a good rhythm as the road gently rises through Esserts-Salève and La Muraz (where if you’re feeling frisky you can turn and climb the backside of the mountain).

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to misremember rides in that I think they are flatter than they actually are. I say this because after La Muraz there is a sustained section of around 4.5% for almost 4km (with some steeper pitches thrown in).

In fact most of the route around the back of the mountain, from Mornex to Vovray is 12.5km at an average of 2.3% - so the true definition of a false flat.

Thankfully I had company to share the work, and the time passed quickly. We were soon in Cruseilles where we joined the Route de Genève. This road can be busy but there is a large bike friendly shoulder to ride in, so the traffic never passes too closely.

You can get up to a good speed here with the only tough section being the short climb up and around to the Col du Mont Sion. This is one of those “free” cols where you don’t feel you’ve had to do too much climbing to reach it.

Now you get the full view of the front of the Salève and start to see back down into the Geneva basin.

It is a good fast 3km descent until the turn onto the quiet road toward Beaumont. We’re again in the shadow of the mountain, and the quiet roads allow you to really take in the magnificence of the surroundings and the stunning vista of the Jura mountains, Geneva and the lake.

Follow the road all the way to Collognes-sous-Salève where we cross back into Switzerland and follow the gently downhill roads into Carouge, across the river Arve and back to your starting point at Jardin Anglais.

In total you’ve ridden 57km and climbed more than 700m.

And you’ve had amazing views of the Alps, the Jura and the Geneva countryside and Lac Leman.

Tour du Salève

Put that in your pipe and smoke it …