A short out-of-town bike trip to a familiar area - Day 1

Friday June 7

Every year, David, Roger, Gerard, and Tom go on a 5-6 day bike tour of some part of France.  The very first twelve[!] years' ago trip involved riding down the ViaRhona from Lyon to Arles; at that time only Roger and David were involved in the adventure. (The ViaRhona is a bike route traversing from an area in Switzerland, down the Rhone River, through Lyon, to the Mediterranean.  It began as an effort in Switzerland in 1998 to create a bike route along the Rhone, the ViaRhona itself officially beginning in 2005.)  Twelve years ago, the route in France mostly consisted of following rudimentary signage along the shoulders of country roads and dirt or gravel paths along the tops of the river dikes.  There were a few paved segments free of cars, but the majority of the route was as described.   

This year, Roger and David decided to do a 2-3 day segment south from Lyon, to observe the changes over the past 12 years, and tune up for our upcoming 5-day trip around Jura. Jura is an area in the northeast part of France famous for cheese, winter sports, and hiking. 

Roger and David Preparing to Go

We left Roger’s apartment building at about 9:30 Friday morning, seen off by Anna [taking pictures], and Dominique.  We road through Lyon towards Halle Tony Garnier, to the tramway bridge over the Rhone, crossed the Bridge to the museum of the Confluence, and headed down the river through La Mulatiere.  We passed through several small towns along local roads and highways towards Givors, where we expected to pick up an actual path along the river.  We missed a turning and did a bit of tacking back and forth and eventually found our way to the marked route, thanks to Roger’s phone GPS.  We rode for several kilometers along quiet back streets with little traffic, and much better signage than twelve years ago.  Then, we often lost our way, and had to search for the ‘official’ route. 

Passing through Loire sur Rhone, and industrial area, where, as some of you may recall, our first attempt twelve years ago ended abruptly after David’s front wheel slipped and turned sharply at a wet railroad crossing, causing a nasty fall, a visit to the local emergency room, and ten stitches. [Two weeks later, we restarted, and finished our very first bike adventure.]  The area has changed, and the bike route has shifted, so we did not actually pass through the exact area of David’s misadventure.  

Informative Sign along the Path

We then wound our way through small towns via back roads and river-side paths until we reached the area of San Romain-en-Gal, where we accidently got on the bridge to Vienne.  We went down river a few hundred yards to a pedestrian bridge, recrossed the river, and continued on our way.

David on the Path near Vienne

Artwork on the Path in the Same Area

We picked up the beginning of the dedicated path and followed it to an area just at the border of Ampuis, a town where Anna and David attended a wine fair during our year-long stay in Lyon.  Roger and David stopped about 12:20PM at a guinguette right on the ViaRhona and had lunch.  [A guinguette is sort of a café or bar, often on a river or a lake, usually open only in the good-weather seasons, of 17^th-century Parisian origin.  Renoir and van Gogh, among others, did famous paintings on the subject.  Guinguettes declined with the ban on river swimming and the advent of other forms of entertainment, such as television. There is somewhat of a revival occurring now.] 

At the Guinguette

Lunches at the Guinguette

After lunch, we pedaled to Sablons and crossed the river to Serrières, and got a room at the same hotel we had stayed in last time.  The hotel has been much modernized on the interior.

 

Roger at the hotel in Serrieres

After getting cleaned up and settled, we went down for a drink and decided that the hotel’s restaurant looked like a good bet for dinner.  We both had the same thing – artfully arranged, carefully cut pieces of steak, with vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes, and a very delicious béarnaise sauce. 

The weather has been somewhat warm, cloudy, and sticky, but no rain.  We totaled 78km.