Two rivers meet in Lyon, and the whole city arranges itself around them. The Saône comes in from the north, slow and green, under the hill of Fourvière with its white basilica; the Rhône rushes down from Switzerland, wide and fast; and between them lies the Presqu'île, a long peninsula of squares and grand streets that ends at the modern Confluence district. For riders, Lyon is a start and finish more than a destination, but it is a fine one, especially if you arrive hungry.
The Romans founded Lugdunum on Fourvière and made it the capital of Gaul; two Roman theatres still sit on the slope below the basilica. Down by the Saône, Vieux Lyon is one of the largest Renaissance quarters in Europe, built when Lyon was a banking and printing city, and riddled with traboules, covered passages that cut through courtyards from one street to the next. Later the silk workers, the canuts, filled the tall workshops of the Croix-Rousse hill and rose in famous revolts in the 1830s. The Lumière brothers made their first films here, and every December the Fête des Lumières fills the city with light shows.
Food is the city's religion. The bouchons serve heavy, wonderful dishes such as quenelles, andouillette and cervelle de canut, a soft herb cheese whose name means silk weaver's brains, and Lyon has long claimed to be France's gastronomic capital. Beaujolais lies just to the north and the Côtes du Rhône to the south, so the wine is never far away either.
Getting in and out by bike is the less charming part. The ring roads and the tunnels under Fourvière are congested at rush hour, and the city has a low-emission zone, so check the current rules and stickers for your bike before you arrive. Once you escape, the reward is quick. The Annecy and Bauges rides head east over the plain and into the pre-Alps, where the Bauges massif is all limestone cliffs, pasture and quiet D-roads. The Vercors rides go southeast toward Grenoble and the dramatic balcony roads such as the Col de la Machine, where the road is cut into the cliff above the gorges.
Fuel, food and accommodation are plentiful everywhere. Fill up on the outskirts rather than in the centre, where stations are scarce and parking is tight, and save the bouchon dinner for the evening you return.