After spending both Friday and Saturday climbing across my local hills on the road bike, today was reserved for twentynineing some unknown territory. My legs felt a bit like rubber after the past two road rides with lots of climbing, but the weather was reason enough to head out and climb some more. I left the house before 8 AM and drove to the western end of Lake Neuchatel. My GPS was navigating me to the small town of Baulmes. 45 minutes later, I pulled into town and found an large parking lot right across the train station. I put the Air 9 carbon together, assembled all my gear and followed the yellow hiking trail signs to Vuiteboeuf. Shortly before reaching this town, I turned off to the left and started a climb into the beautiful Gorges de Covatanne. I was in no hurry today. The ride was all about discovering new places and new trails. I stopped frequently just to look at things and to snap a photo here and there.
When I made it out of the gorge, I should have opted for a detour to Culliairy. Instead, I took some fire-roads and hiking trails zigzagging up to the Mont de Baulmes. I had to hike a half kilometer on the hiking trail after it passed the railway. It intersected with fire-roads again and from that point on I was back on my two 29 inch wheels. I reached the Aiguilles (Needles) de Baulmes and followed them westwards on a narrow hiking trail. Rideable at times I was again spending a lot of time pushing and carrying my bike while going from 1271 meters above sea to 1559 meters at the highest point of the Aiguilles.
The spectacular view and the amazing rock formations were well worth the trouble. I spent more time enjoying a view from far above everything. A group of hikers did the same and sat below the cross enjoying the vertiginous view. For the descent, I had two options - following the Aiguilles to the west or take the hiking trail down the north side. I asked a few hikers about the western descent and their description made me turn to the northern facing trail. I walked to whole thing down. I should have taken the third option - return eastwards to reach the Chalet des Aiguilles and hit the fire-road from there. Next time!
With all that hiking and a pair of very fatigue legs, I gave up on my other plan - to climb the Suchet mountain from the west. I was not going to do that today as there were still patches of snow covering the peak of the mountain. I was looking forward to ride the ridge of the mountain down to Baulmes though and was not going to miss that ride. I rode to La Combette and climbed my way up to the ridge, where a fantastic entrance to the narrow downhill opened its gates. Whoa, what a trail! Sometimes gentle, sometimes mellow but mostly rough, rooty, rocky and steep. A real bone-shaker and if you’re not careful a bone-breaker. Tired and alone, I got off the bike a couple of times, but I loved it! This is one heck of a fun downhill trail.
Now if you plan to ride there after reading this or seeing my photos on Flickr, please be nice to the trails and the country. It’s a real treasure, lets keep it that way. And lastly, be careful.
★ collideous