Running the Gorges du Nan, Vercors, France

Cracking open our map on the Vercors page, the mountain range to the south-west of Grenoble in southern France, something caught my eye. Twisting roads with romantic names: the Combe Laval, the Grands Goulets, Gorges de la Borne and, on a much smaller scale, the Gorges du Nan. Firing up the t’Interweb, searching for any of these names quickly threw up photos which suggested I, of little valour that I am, wouldn’t be venturing up them in our 3.5 tonne, 3m high, 2.2m wide motorhome. Here’s an example, which I took up the Gorges du Nan yesterday:

The Gorges du Nan, Vercors, France

See what I mean? Would you fancy driving your motorhome up there? Or even a Fiat 500? If you’re still feeling brave, here are another couple of views:

More Gorges du Nan

And one final gratuitous Gorges du Nan shot – spot the guys hanging from the sky and working on the rock in a puff of dust

It turns out I’d just been electronically introduced to the world of French Balcony Roads – roads which run where no road should naturally run. In parts they’re cut directly into the side of the rock, the equivalent of a mountain tunnel, but with a view. They’re safe(ish) to drive in a car or smaller van, although the old Grands Goulet’s been rendered even more mysterious than the rest. That section of road’s been closed (to everyone – no walking, running, cycling or driving) since 2005 after a number of fatalities due, as far as I can tell, to falling rock. It’s now bypassed with a modern tunnel.

I was entranced. Being in the lumbering living-wagon, I started to ponder whether I could get up to see any of ’em, and commenced a dig around for more info. An obvious(ish) solution quickly presented itself: the more impressive part of the Gorges du Nan (shown above) was only 3km from the village of Cognin-les-Gorges in the valley below, and the D22 road up through the gorge ran at a steady 6% to 8% incline, which I guessed (hoped) I could run up. A day or two later, with a slight sensation of sickness in my stomach we parked up (N45.17067, E5.41251), filled my trail pack with cold water and a few figs, and off I trotted.

Free mixed parking in Cognin-les-Gorges, you can just see the gorge on the left of the photo.

Me, trotting. It got a bit warm, so I was glad of the water. I got through about 1.5 litres.

Two hours and twenty minutes later, a sweating me stood in the van’s doorway, gurning like a gibbon, with my first ‘hilly’ half marathon in the bag. The biggest excitement was as predicted: after a couple of miles of slowly trotting up long hairpins, the wooded road turned left into a small tunnel and exploded out the other side into what felt a little like thin air. I swore, which isn’t hugely unlike me, but I seriously meant it, believe me. I don’t get blown away very often, but that was some moving experience running along up in the sky!

OK, I took this on the way down, but I felt like that on the way up, honest!

The really impressive section, which is in the video above, only lasts a few hundred meters, as if that’s not enough, and the road just carries on ploughing its way upwards, more 6% to 8% incline, for miles through the woods. With hardly any traffic, just a few workmen repairing the road (which only opened on 1 June, having been shut for two months), it was a gentle, serene experience, with just the background fear I might have a heart attack at some point assuaged by my heart rate monitor reporting a steady 165 beats per minute (I max out at about 181).

The Gorges du Nan Half Marathon Route (out and back)

Most of the Gorges du Nan looks like this

After a couple of figs at the top, with my water all supped I turned round and fair flew (for plodding me) back down the hill, passing some unsmiling cyclists and grabbing the above photos. That was yesterday. Today, I ache. My left hip and thigh aren’t happy bunnies, and will take a few days to heal. My right achilles, which I was a bit worried about before setting off, is working perfectly though. In terms of tiredness, I’m not, even after an interrupted kip sleeping alongside a busy road. Maybe it’ll hit me later on, but for now, I’m fired up folks. Feeling good for Zermatt (this is why I’m running these hills)!

One final image – showing the elevation of the run (half up, half down – in green) and my heart rate in grey:

My heart rate on the run – easier going downhill!

Cheers, Jay