Club des Cent Cols (100 Cols Club)

I can’t remember when or where I first learned of the existence of the Club des Cent Cols, but I was immediately intrigued and soon hooked on the prospect of joining. The concept is simple: ride up 100 different recognised passes (cols) – with at least 5 of them being at 2,000 metres or higher – to be able to join the club. Thereafter, you submit any additional cols you have climbed each year to add to your total. For every hundred you add, five of them must be over 2,000 metres.

Only cols recognised by the club are eligible. That means it has to be a proper pass through the mountains or hills. So Mont Ventoux, for example, is not a pass – even though the signs now stupidly call it ‘Col du Mont Ventoux’. Other rules are that you must have climbed the cols under your own power, and you can only count a col once, even if you have climbed it from different sides.

All the rules and other information are available on the club’s website:

Club des Cent Cols website

I first registered with the Club des Cent Cols in late 2022, but didn’t have enough cols to become a full member at that point. Or so I thought – in fact, when I later came to check my rides against the club’s list, I discovered that I’d already climbed over 119 official cols, nine of which were over 2,000 metres. So I submitted my list and joined the club in April 2023, and duly received my certificate!

Since then I have been collecting more cols. It becomes a bit of an addiction. But it takes me to places I may not otherwise have visited, because I now try to include as many cols as I can when designing my routes.

Of course, the 5% of cols at 2,000 metres requirement means that you are pretty well forced to ride in the Alps or Pyrenees (or Sierra Nevada, Spain) for at least some of your cols, at least where Western Europe is concerned.

It might all seem a bit geeky but I can think of less rewarding pastimes. Which one would you choose?

There is also an active online forum where all sorts of things club and col-related are discussed. Originally formed in France in 1972, the club now has members across the globe, and their catalogues of official cols cover many different countries. It’s a wonderful way to connect cyclists worldwide through a non-competitive common interest.

I have met and ridden with club members at two regional gatherings and have found everyone to be friendly and welcoming, both in person and on the forums.

My CCC events