Day 4 - Around Lac d'Annecy

Everything had gone well so far – no serious rain, not too hot, no serious mechanical problems, no crashes.   The plan for Thursday was to ride around lake Annecy and catch a late afternoon train for Lyon, thus saving a night’s stay in a hotel.  We had discussed leaving our saddlebags at the hotel and picking them up after we rode around the lake. We decided instead to take them with us in case we were pressed for time between finishing our ride around the lake and catching the train. The distance was 40-43 km with no real climbing to be done, so it should be easy.  Once again, David’s battery went back into place and the power flowed to where it was supposed to.

We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and started off, planning on a clockwise tour around the lake. David took the lead and headed out of town along the lake, along a well-defined bike trail – no cars!  After 45 minutes or so we were again sharing the road with cars, but traffic was light.  We rode through narrow streets in a lake-side town for a while, before returning to the main road and a largely separate bike path.  After reaching the top of a modest hill, David noticed that no-one was in sight behind him, so decided to wait for the others.  After several minutes no one appeared, so David retraced his route and met Gérard coming up.  Gérard said that another cyclist had pulled out in front of Tom, causing him to crash.  He was all right and would be appearing with Roger soon. Tom’s wounds were not serious but did require a few bandages, giving him quite the scarred-veteran look.  

Lac d'Annecy with a Storm Approaching.

With storm clouds approaching, and strong gusty winds with spatters of rain beginning to appear, we took advantage of a bus shelter to gauge how serious the storm might be.  After 15-20 minutes and more rain spatters, the clouds thinned and the winds moderated, so we pushed on.  While stopped, we re-posted a map in the bus shelter showing the bike route around the lake.  David put on his new poncho, black with orange spots, that Gérard announced made David look like a Ladybug. 

In the Bus Shelter, Re-posting the Map - Tom Pointing at our Location

As we rounded the south end of the lake, we transitioned to an old railroad right-of-way – flat, paved, no cars, lots of scenery.  We stopped at a history display, with a very nice restroom built in the style of an old railroad station.  The stop also displayed an interesting old compressed-air powered locomotive that had once been used in an ammunition storge base, to avoid the presence of flames inherent in a steam-powered locomotive.  Similar locomotives were once used in underground coal mines around the world.

Compressed Air Train Engine and History Display

Gérard and Lunch in Annecy

David and Lunch in Annecy - in his Ladybug Disguise.

We passed through a couple of towns and returned once again to Annecy, where we found a restaurant and ate a late lunch.  After lunch, we headed for the railway station, as were planning on taking a train that left at about 3:56PM, with an about 1-1/2 hour trip to Lyon.