Bonnelles is a small commune on the southern edge of the Forêt de Rambouillet, a former royal hunting ground that now carries more than 70 kilometres of dedicated cycle paths through oak and pine.
The village sits directly on the Véloscénie, the long-distance route linking Paris to Mont-Saint-Michel, with a signed section running the ten kilometres north to Rambouillet itself. To the east, roads climb gently into the Parc Naturel Régional de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, known locally for the short, repeated rises — the bosses — that give the valley's riding its character rather than any single defining climb.
A short detour east leads to the Viaduc des Fauvettes, a disused 34-metre railway viaduct now folded into the local cycling network — one of the more distinctive landmarks on an otherwise gentle stretch of Île-de-France countryside.
This is unhurried riding: forest tracks, quiet villages, and a greenway spine rather than a mountain pass — a fitting complement to harder days elsewhere.
