AubrysInFrance: Part I - The Next Great Bike Adventure, or, Roger and David bite off more than they can comfortably chew.

After the successful trip by bike last year [see blog posts in June, 2012], along the Rhone from Lyon to Arles, we talked about doing the other end of the Rhone bike route, from Lac Leman [Lake Geneva] to Lyon. The route is a bit shorter – about 270 kilometers as opposed to about 330 kilometers, but parts are more urban [through Geneva], and parts more isolated and remote than last year's route. Last Spring we spent five days on the trip, an average of 60-70 kilometers per day. As I was the least fit, least experienced member of the crew, and handled it reasonably well, I entered into this year’s edition with more confidence and comfort than last year. We decided to take the train out and ride back, so as to be generally going down-valley.

We had planned to get under way in May, but this Spring has been unusually wet in Europe, with much rain and some flooding on the rivers. After adjusting schedules and weather predictions, we finally caught the train for the lakeside town of Evian-les-Bains, about 40 kilometers east of Geneva, on the shores of Lac Leman, Wednesday, June 12. We had originally talked of going to Geneva, but decided to start at Evian-les-Bains so we could do some scenic riding along the lake. Further complicating matters, we had decided that we were going to avoid staying overnight in Switzerland, as the prevailing opinion was that it is too expensive. We had, we thought, located some towns with hotels before we left. We were going to be the same three as last year – Tony, Roger, and David, but just days before our departure, Tony fell heavily on his side, resulting in some painful bruising that forced him to drop out. Not a good omen, as it turned out – not a serious thing, but certainly something that one would prefer to not have happen.

Originally, we had planned to catch the 8:25AM train at Gare Part-Dieu, near us, getting us, with a change of trains, into Evian-les-Bains at about 11:30. We would then have lunch and ride about 35 kilometers to the border town of Douvaine and stay the night. That way we would not have to tackle Geneva at rush hour and then find a place to stay on the other side. However, after consulting with SNCF, the French national railway company, we were advised to catch the 6:25AM train from Gare Perrache in Lyon in order to be sure to be able to get our bikes aboard comfortably. We then naively assumed we could, with the earlier start, get through Geneva the same day, and still easily find a place to stay in a French village on the other side. Seemed like a great idea, as we started off from Gare Perrache for the scenic train trip to Lac Leman. The best laid plans….