From packrafting to mountain biking… In Les Gorges du Tarn

Frustrated by pandemic-restricted travel, I was in need of adventure, wanting an exciting trip that involved more than just mountain biking. I came up with the idea of combining packrafting down the gorges of the Tarn River with biking along nearby trails. It was an easy sell to fellow mountain bikers Fred Horny and Jérôme Clementz. Read on for the full story.

“You say it’s impossible, but you haven’t tried,” laughs Jérôme at Fred’s reluctance to launch his packraft down a staircase of waterfalls. The two Julbo riders turn to me for an opinion plucked from my own whitewater kayaking experience. “You’ll be lucky to make it past the second drop,” I say in a fatherly tone. Concerned that the word ‘impossible’ might not figure in an enduro world champion’s vocabulary, I add “…and then Fred will need rescuing… again!”, reminding them both of an earlier incident. We look again at the churning water and opt to play it safe, hauling our bike-laden rafts up the muddy riverbank and around the obstacle. It’s certainly less sketchy that way. But it’s one of only four portages we make during our 50km river descent. Not bad considering the high water level and that we’re all new to packrafting.

We paddle on, our rafts bobbing through rapid after rapid, waves sluicing over the bikes strapped to their bows. “It’s the cleanest my bike’s ever been!” I shout as I punch through curling standing waves and steer around enormous boulders. Whitewater paddling is like biking down a technical singletrack – it’s all about picking the right line. Our three-day adventure is full of rocks, drops, line choices and flow, both on and off the water.

The Lozère department around the Tarn River boasts hundreds of miles of trails including singletrack descents as well as paths alongside the water (IGN map 2640-OT). You can ride here all year, although the summers are hot, and there are 22 campsites to choose from.  This will be our playground where we’ll alternate between docking the rafts, setting up camp, pedalling, paddling and riding.

We attack the bike part with a 500-600m climb and descent, emerging onto the plateau at the top with stunning views of the gorge, followed by a wide choice of technical singletrack to bomb back down to the bank and ride along the river to the waiting rafts and our gear. The trails are playful, varied and fun, giving us an amazing bird’s eye view of the surroundings.

Whether on the raft negotiating burly rapids or on the bikes careering down precipitous trails, we get our fill of adrenaline highs and smiles. And I realise you don’t have to look for the remote or exotic to find adventure’s rewards! Everything we need is right here. Three fantastic days among friends ‘gorging’ on water and singletrack. Switching from packrafting to MTB and back again is a really cool combination, and highly recommended along the gorges of the Tarn. A real adventure.