Grand Traverse of the Central Massif by mountain bike

Le Massif Central makes up around 1/6 of France and spreads out over four régions. The Morvan is a Regional Park and a north-eastern spur of the Massif.  The Morvan is best known for its man-made lakes, its sustainable forest exploitation and as a refuge for the resistance in the World War II. Château-Chinon is the main city.

The capital of the Auvergne is Clermont-Ferrand, also called Michelin City. Famous citizens of the Auvergne are Vercingetorix, king of the Averni (Auvergne) and scourge of Julius Caesar and Coco Chanel!   

It was not until 1752 that it was discovered that the row of mountains in the north of the Auvergne are in fact extinct volcanoes, according to some even dormant volcanoes. The Puy de Dôme is the youngest: it was still active about 5000 years ago.  

Recommendations

1. Use tubeless tires! Otherwise, your GTMC may become the GECC or La Grande Exercice de Changer Chambres à aires, a great exercise in replacing and repairing inner tubes. (And this especially for the Morvan, the first week.) Even Michelin tubes will not help. Thorns of brambles have no mercy!

2. We sometimes wondered (especially in the Morvan) when we pushed our bike up again or hobbled down on rocks and tree stumps on a so-called V3, what V4-V5-V6 would be like, then? In the Topoguide, no stage got a higher gradation than V3...!!??  What is the point of grading routes if for more than half of the grades you need to be a circus performer and work for Cirque du Soleil to stay on your bike?

3. Also the daily denivelations, the D+ are often seriously underestimated. (See our statistics: we had 4 Garmins and 1 Wahoo the first week to check, 2 Garmins and 1 Wahoo after!) This is not really a big problem because the experience is in the beauty of the cycling.  But a good (mental) preparation, knowing what the day is going to bring contributes to that experience; a lack of preparation does not let you experience it to the fullest.

4. We would strongly advise against gravel bikes through the Morvan. We met one biker on one the first day, who after a couple of breakneck descents decided to take the regular road to Quarré.  But also, in the Auvergne we would feel safer on a mountain bike.

5. We also wondered how you would come through this first week with a tent tied on your handlebars so you can hardly see where your front wheel is racing to? In this respect, autumn when layers of leaves cover the ground, is also not advisable to ride through the Morvan. Somewhere in the Topoguide it is also suggested that you can pull your luggage on a cart behind your bike...?! Our advice, especially for the first week: stay in hotels or campsites with cabins!

6. With an electric bike? Well, I would not want to push that 15+ kg bike – with saddle bag and frame bag on top – along the rivers Cure or Cousin or all the way past La Pierre Qui Vire... let alone carry it over the top of the Bois du Roy! And you must be extra careful if you decide to go electric because you have not cycled for a while: higher speeds require higher skills!

7. In the topoguide and in various literature advertising the GTMC, it is also stated that the route can be done en famille?! If your wife is looking for one more reason to file for divorce, she will surely have one after you have taken her and the children on one of the stages and you have both been carrying the children's bikes more than the children have cycled on them!

8. You must include in your planning that after two weeks on the trail – and especially after the Morvan and probably also after the Cévennes - you will need a day off to have your bike serviced. So be sure to start with a tip-top bike and bring spare brake pads and derailleur pad specifically for your bike. Bicycle workshops are only in larger cities and you often must leave the route for them.   

9. If we were to do the same stretch of route again then we would avoid Clermont Ferrand (CF) and cycle from Malauzat (between Riom and CF) straight to Volvic. Cycling in traffic always feels like an anti-climax to what would otherwise have been a nice day of cycling. We would even look for a route to go directly to Volvic before Riom. As such you don’t need to leave a fantastic bike biotope for a rather dull intermezzo and you can stay in the same vibe.

10. A remaining problem when doing this trip unsupported is the return shuttle. Well, it is not a problem, just expensive: the company cap-liberté mentioned in the book refers you to a taxi company anyway; there are no shuttles in the real sense of the word. We were quoted €540 to be driven back from Besse to Avallon! (About 300km one way). It should be possible to organise this in a different way. Where you leave your car, surely there must be someone interested to make some extra money and come and get you with your car? Alternative: go by train.