Chasseral Road: Olten to Biel along the Jura crest

About this ride.

the Jura is not one big climb, it is fifty small ones wearing a trench coat. 🧥 We leave Olten heading west and the road immediately starts playing with us. Up a bit, down a bit, up a bit more. Quiet farm roads, cows judging your cadence 🐄, and ridge views that improve with every bump. The first half is a rhythm game. Nothing is endless, but the gradients have opinions, so ride smart and keep a few matches in the box. 🔥 You will want them later. Trust us. We checked the route. Twice. Deep into the day, the road from St-Imier tilts up toward the Col du Chasseral, the highest paved pass of the Bernese Jura. The final kilometers past Les Savagnières average around 6 percent, which sounds polite until kilometer 110 in your legs. 🦵 And then the top. 🤩 On a clear day you can see the Alps on one side, the Vosges on the other, and the three lakes glittering below like someone spilled jewelry. You ride along the summit ridge above absolutely everything. This is the photo stop. This is the snack stop. This is the whole point. 📸 What goes up must come down, and this down is a good one: a long, flowing descent through Nods and Diesse all the way to Biel. 🚆 Sunday, 8:29 train to Olten, riding from the station 📏 148 km point to point, Olten to Biel/Bienne ⛰️ 3,622 m of climbing, topping out at 1,550 m on the Chasseral 🛣️ Road bike, fully paved ⏱️ Roughly 6 to 7 hours of riding, plan the whole day 🚉 Start and finish both right on SBB lines, easy there, easy home 🎒 Bring Layers for the top. 🧥 Two bottles 🚰 and proper snacks