North-west of Grenoble, the hills of the Bas-Dauphiné fold into a quiet country of meadows, woods and ponds that the locals call the Terres Froides, the cold lands, because of their damp, clayey soils and frosty winters. Biol is one of its villages, scattered across the slopes with farms and a church, and it gives a good taste of a part of Isère that most visitors drive straight past on the motorway.
The riding here is a lot of fun. The roads curl over little hills and dip into valleys, with constant changes of direction and gradient and very little traffic. The landscape is green and pastoral, with cows in the fields and woods of oak and chestnut, and on clear days the Chartreuse and Vercors massifs appear on the horizon, with the snowy summits of Belledonne beyond. Surfaces are variable, and gravel and mud from farm tracks can appear on corners.
A short ride away lies the Lac de Paladru, a long, clear glacial lake that is a popular swimming spot in summer. Its waters hide archaeological treasures: the remains of a Neolithic settlement and a village from around the year one thousand, preserved in the mud, whose finds are displayed in a museum by the lake. The idea of medieval knights and farmers living on the shore a millennium ago gives the place a special atmosphere.
Biol has few services, so fuel and food are best found in La Tour-du-Pin or Le Grand-Lemps nearby, or in Bourgoin-Jallieu, the largest town in the area. Beyond, the ride continues towards the Route Napoléon and the Vercors, where the roads climb into the mountains and the scenery becomes truly alpine.