Tour of Les Mimosas (from Pégomas) Mountain Bike Trail
Route Overview
Just 16 km from Cannes in the Côte d’Azur, and a short ride into the hills and you’ll be overlooking fields of yellow mimosa plants. The best time to ride this loop is in the winter to enjoy the mimosa in full bloom. If you’re lucky enough to do the ride in January or February, you’ll see the entire massif Tanneron in full colour. It’s an unforgettable sight. A cautionary note though; in this region local farmers grow mimosa as well as grapes and olive trees and they’re quite protective of their produce.
The Route
From Pégomas (20 m), cross the Siagne (RD 109) and shortly afterwards take the little Tanneron road on the right (RD 309).
After a 3 km climb, reach the edge of the department of Var (221 m), turn right (track DFCI) and go down a small road to the hamlet of Sausses.
When you reach the first houses turn right once more and descend along a steep tarmac trail along agricultural land (Sausserons trail).
The trail narrows and becomes overgrown with mimosa – it is recommended not to deviate from the route to avoid any conflict with local farmers.
Once you reach the hamlet of Cabrol, take the narrow road that follows the right bank of the Siagne and quickly rejoin the outgoing road at the bridge. Turning left takes you back to the village of Pégomas.
Route Notes
- Departure point: Pégomas (16 km inland from Cannes)
- Altitude at trail start: 20 m
- Length: 7 km
- Climb: 200 m
- Descent: 200 m
- Duration: 1:30 hours
- Difficulty: easy
- Best time to ride: January and February
Getting There
From Cannes, follow the motorway A8 west to Mandelieu. At the motorway exit, turn right on to RD.109 Pégomas, the starting point of the ride.
Hi Matt
I am staying in Frejus, between 30th June to 13th July 2013, I am looking to do some Mountain Biking while in the area and I will be bring my own bike. I have read through your guides, which are quite interesting, are the routes easy to follow with out a GPS unit, are there any signs. I am interested in doing some red or black grade routes in the area, I have contacted Green Bike, but they seam to be closed for 2013. I would be very interested if you know of any guides / groups in the area that I may be able to ride with?
Thanks Glenn
Hi Glenn, thanks for getting in touch. You don’t need a GPS device to do the rides and most of the time the routes are self evident, however there are sections where you will need to pay attention to the route notes and the map. You can join a group and head to some red and black routes by getting in touch with http://www.peps-spirit.fr/ located in Grimaud, just outside Saint-Tropez.
Hope that helps, have a great holiday,
Matt
Matt, I will be in Cannes for 10 days and would like to rent a bike and do some trail, aproximatley 30 to 45 kms, do you know someone that can rent the bike and recomend a tour ?.
My email arturomoram@hotmail.com
Best Regards.
Hi Arturo, thanks very much for contacting Active Azur.
Probably your best option is to get in touch with Green Bike either via email (greenbikefrance@gmail.com) or via their contact form. They offer self-guided rides from Biot/Antibes using a pre-loaded GPS. You can if you like request that a guide goes with you for an extra fee.
They have a couple of really nice rides around 30kms through the Esterel and a longer 46km (one way) ride from Antibes via Nice to Monaco. They’ll provide you with a 130mm travel full suspension trail bike which will do the job nicely. Bike and GPS hire is 40 euros per day and there’s additional fee if you need to have the bike delivered. Here’s a link to the website: http://www.greenbike.fr/
Green Bike are quite a new company, so if you use them, please let me know how you get on.