The Rhône is the main character here. Pilat, the ridge in the ride's name, is on the other side of Lyon altogether, so this is an end of day well away from the hills.
The roads are flat and quiet, and the interest lies in the setting. The river has been tamed here by canals and hydroelectric works, but the old braided channels and wooded islands survive and are a nature reserve, with herons, kingfishers and in winter large flocks of ducks. Beyond the plain, to the east, the escarpment of the Balmes Dauphinoises rises as a low, wooded line, and a few of its little roads make a pleasant detour if you have energy left. The surface is generally good, bends are gentle, and a spring evening here is cool and smells of wet earth and river mud.
History is quietly present. The Rhône was a trade route since Roman times, and the town of Crémieu, a few kilometres east on the edge of the Isle Crémieu plateau, preserves a medieval market hall and ruined fortifications that are worth a look. The villages here have the typical Dauphiné pisé, rammed earth walls, in older farm buildings, a building style that is unusual and unexpectedly beautiful in the late light.
Fuel is the point to plan. These villages are small, so the usual choice is Tignieu, about nine kilometres away, which is a town of over five thousand and has stations and supermarkets. Saint-Maurice-de-Gourdans is large enough to have a bakery and a bar, and is a good place for a coffee or a sandwich. Lyon's eastern ring road and the A42 motorway are not far away, so the final run back to the city is easy.
As an ending, it is an unglamorous, peaceful place, a long way from the ridge in the name but pleasant in its own right. If the weather is clear, it is worth stopping on a riverbank, turning off the engine, and listening to the water.