Day 3 – Lagnieu to Lyon

Seyssel at the end of our ride

Well the last day of our cycle tour has come about all too quickly. At the start I feared that I wouldn’t manage, but when we get into our rhythm I want to continue going!

We were both feeling strong, or at least that’s what we said to each other and as we had enjoyed our explore of Morestel yesterday. So we decided to incorporate a detour to Cremieu today before heading on to Lyon. This made it our longest day at 74 km and again about 400m of elevation.

The stand out memories from today are exploring Cremieu (see separate post) and our ride into Lyon

• The ride through Hieres Sur Amby, before we got to Cremieu. Very pretty and we got lots of video footage.
• Having a well deserved coke and beer at Chavanoz. Was very thirsty and hot so it was perfect to find a small bar at the top of a hill, where everyone was sat outside, and just relax. The locals were happy to engage with us and Mike managed to chat about football in spite of his limited French
• The picture below is of the church in Chavonaz opposite the bar we visited
• Taking a shortcut along a pedestrian path by the side of the Rhone which ended up in some playing fields. Would have been quicker to have gone on the road!
• We also enjoyed a break at a picnic area by a sports ground sheltering in the shade of some trees. It was now a very hot day
• A very fast ride along the bike path into Lyon. The path ran along the top of a dyke by the side of the river and was an excellent hard packed surface which was a delight to ride on. Reminded me of a feeling similar to skiing on freshly groomed coudroy! Must admit I don’t know where I got the energy from. I was in full Zena mode and Mike enjoyed drafting but did reach his limit and asked me to slow down as we neared our bridge back across the Rhone into Lyon
• The sudden transition from a rural bike path to a busy bustling city in rush hour. The bike lanes were a boom, making full use of bus lanes, and well respected by drivers. It was useful to have a lot of other cyclists we could follow until we understood the protocols of riding in Lyon
• Enjoying our champagne and picnic in our small air bnb after we had sorted out the terrace and recovered from visiting the railway station to arrange our tickets for the next day. It was chaotic as a number of trains had been cancelled and there were crowds of people everywhere. As a footnote fortunately it was sorted and our experience the next morning was much more relaxed. Glad we had an aircon, and a washing machine!

See below for a video of our ride. Note to see the full controls click on the < control on the progress bar. This will allow you to watch the video full screen