May 29, 2019 Lyon to Grenoble

This morning we were up and on the move. Agnes got the car from the lot a couple of blocks away while the rest of us transported the luggage down stairs.  With the car packed we headed out.  I had hoped to be on the road by 8:30 Am and we were.

I had spent more time working on this route than any of the other routes on the tour.  The problem with getting out of Lyon was that there were several places where a person had to cross railroad tracks. The only place to cross the tracks was these overpasses which were not very bike friendly.   So no matter which route you took you had to go to one of the overpasses.  When we got there in the morning there was a lot of traffic and so we walked the bikes along this very narrow walkway with trucks flying past only a few feet away.  

The second problem with getting out of Lyon was that if you were heading in the south east direction you had to take the D518 which was a 4 lane road which had a bike lane well more of just a shoulder than a real bike lane until you came to a roundabout and then it was everyman for himself. You just had to time it so that when a big truck was coming through and blocking the entrance to your left you had lots of time. The D512  went out to the 25 kms mark of the ride.  I didn’t think they were so bad but Bob hated them.  

The next real problem with building the route was that the roads in this area all run SW to NE and we were headed NW to SE or perpendicular to the roads.  The reason the roads run this way is that is the way the valleys run.  So when you are going perpendicular to the roads it is down one side of the valley and up the other side. The roads which do go up the sides of the valley are really steep and winding.  In addition the Google street view does not cover a lot of these roads.  So I had to guess as to their condition.  I thought there was a chance that we may run into some unpaved sections and indeed we did the first section was about 200 meters and the second one was about 1.3 kms of which about 300 m was really rough.  I didn’t think it was a bad penalty for saving around 30-40 kms of extra distance, but Bob was not pleased.

At about the 30 km point in the strap on my new bento box broke and dumped my camera on the ground.  Luckily Bob spotted it.  I was not pleased that my new bento box with less than 1500 km on it had failed.

When we got to the 57 kms mark we were at the summit of the climb for the day, we were half way into the 114 km ride, it was 12:00 am, and we were standing in front of a very fancy restaurant (Michelle rated).  L’ Auberge D’Eclose was just opening and the owner stepped out to put out the open sign and he invited us in for lunch.  The menu for lunch was ravioli in broth plat, a steak with rice and vegetables for the main course and an apple tart for desert all for 18 euros.  It was a very fine meal, and certainly the fanciest lunch of the tour.

When we got out to the restaurant there was a really nasty cold wind blowing.  Bob and I pulled on our coats but Ken did not have a coat with him.  Fortunately the wind was out of the NW so it was a tail wind.  However every time the road made a twist the wind cut into you.  This wind was to plague us all the way into Grenoble.  

It was mostly downhill for the second half of the ride but there were still a few climbs to do and fortunately no more unpaved sections.   We were all feeling more than a little tired and every hill just seemed to go on.

When we got to the 94 km mark we turned on to a bike path which followed the river into Grenoble.  With 18 km still to go I thought it would fly by but instead an icy rain started and it was driven into our faces by the wind.  

When we finally pulled into the Airbnb we were immediately set upon by some irate neighbor that we couldn’t put our bikes in the court yard which has other bikes in it. 

Somehow what should have been an easy day turned hard and everyone is exhausted.  It was only 114 kms and 995 m of climb. 

terry hot biker