Beaujolais Dawn Sweep

A 336 km loop

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Why this ride

Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. Out of Montluel and back again: 336 km, roughly 7 h in the saddle. It goes by way of Beaujeu, in Balbigny, near Pélussin and Irigny. near Bourgoin-Jallieu is the high point. Long stretches are under trees.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop near Montluel fuel

   Montluel is the kind of small French town that most people only see as a sign on the A42, which is a shame. It climbs a slope above the little River Sereine, on the escarpment that the locals call the Côtière, the step where the Rhône plain to the south rises up onto the plateau of the Dombes. For centuries this was border country: Montluel belonged to the House of Savoy and only became French with the Treaty of Lyon in 1601, and the old centre still has the narrow, defensive feel of a frontier town.

   For a rider leaving Lyon in the early morning, the interest lies just north. Climb out of town and the land flattens into the Dombes, a plateau scattered with hundreds of shallow fish ponds dug by monks and landowners since the Middle Ages. The roads are narrow and straight-ish, linked by right-angle bends at farm corners, and at dawn mist lies on the water and herons stand in the reeds. Carp and pike from these ponds still end up on local menus, and frogs' legs are a regional pride.

   The surface is generally good, but watch for tractors, mud at field entrances and the odd cyclist on the quiet departmental roads. The plain south of Montluel, by contrast, is industrial and busy, with lorries heading for the motorway junctions, so it is best treated as a transit.

   Montluel itself has fuel, bakeries and cafés, and the larger retail zones along the main road have stations open long hours. Topping up here makes sense before heading into the Dombes or towards the Beaujolais hills, where villages are small and pumps scarcer. On a warm day, a coffee in the old town square and a look at the church tower above the rooftops makes a calm start before the ride proper begins.

2. Near Beaujeu, on the way back swim

   The Haut Beaujolais is not the Beaujolais most people imagine. North-west of Beaujeu the vineyards run out and the hills rise into forest, dark Douglas fir plantations, beech woods, steep pastures with Charolais cattle grazing on them. This stop sits in that upland country between Beaujeu and Matour, where the roads loop over ridges and down into narrow valleys with small farming villages.

   Beaujeu gave the whole region its name. The lords of Beaujeu controlled this country in the Middle Ages, and Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of Louis XI, effectively ruled France as regent during her brother's minority. The town is still the wine capital of the area and celebrates the release of Beaujolais nouveau every November with bonfires and plenty of wine. Higher up, Mont Saint-Rigaud is the highest point in the Rhône department, a forested summit with views over the hills towards the Saône.

   For a swim the best option is a ride away. The Lac des Sapins at Cublize, south-west of here, is a large lake with a natural-filter bathing area, which makes it one of the more unusual and reliable swimming spots in the region in summer. Closer to this stop you mostly find streams and ponds, pleasant for a rest in the shade but not for diving in.

   The riding is what you came for. The roads are narrow and twisty, with sudden blind corners, gravel at junctions and occasional sheep or cattle crossing between fields. Expect cool, fresh air under the firs even on hot days, and fog in the valleys on autumn mornings. Traffic is light except for timber trucks during the week.

   Matour and Beaujeu have cafés, bakeries and basic shops. For fuel, plan ahead: Belleville, down on the Saône plain, is the safest bet, and smaller villages may have nothing or only an automatic pump.

3. Food stop in Balbigny food

   Balbigny is a small town on the Loire, at the northern end of the Forez plain, where the river leaves the open basin and enters the hills towards Roanne. It is a crossroads: the A89 and A72 motorways meet nearby, and old roads from Lyon to Clermont-Ferrand and from Saint-Étienne to Roanne pass through. For riders, it is a practical stop for fuel and food on the way across the region.

   The town has a few points of interest, including an old bridge over the Loire and a church, but the main attractions lie nearby. A few kilometres south stands the Bastie d'Urfé, a Renaissance château with Italian-style gardens and a remarkable grotto decorated with shells and sand. It was the home of Honoré d'Urfé, whose long pastoral novel L'Astrée, set in the Forez, was a sensation in seventeenth-century France.

   The surrounding landscape is varied. The Loire valley is broad and green, with fields and riverside woods, while to the east and west the land rises into the Monts du Lyonnais and the Monts de la Madeleine. The roads in the hills are winding and fun, with views over the river and the plain. North of Balbigny, the Loire flows into the long reservoir of Villerest, with gorges, castles and quiet roads along its banks.

   Balbigny has pumps, groceries and restaurants, so it is a convenient place to stop. The motorway junctions bring traffic, but the minor roads quickly become quiet. From here, the route heads east towards the Beaujolais, through rolling hills and small villages, at its best in the soft light of early morning.

4. Photo stop near Pélussin photo

   Pélussin sits on the eastern flank of the Massif du Pilat, high above the Rhône valley south of Vienne. The town is spread across a sunny slope, among orchards, vineyards and meadows, and from its terraces you look down on the river and across to the hills of the Dauphiné, with the Alps on the far horizon on clear days.

   The Pilat is a regional natural park, a granite massif of forests, high pastures and scree slopes rising from the Rhône to over 1400 metres at the Crêt de la Perdrix. Its eastern slopes, around Pélussin, are warm and sheltered, with orchards of apricots and cherries and some vineyards. Higher up, the climate is harsher, with spruce and beech forests, heather moors and long winters.

   For riders, the roads climbing from Pélussin into the Pilat are among the finest in the region. The road up to the Col de l'Œillon is a classic, winding through forest with hairpins and views, and it leads to the Crêt de l'Œillon, crowned by a television mast and a viewpoint with a panorama over the Rhône valley and the Alps. The roads across the plateau, towards the Croix de Chaubouret and Le Bessat, are fast and flowing. Surfaces are generally good, but watch for cyclists, who love these climbs.

   Pélussin has fuel, food and basic services. For a photo, the views from the Crêt de l'Œillon are spectacular, especially in the morning or evening light. In winter, snow can close the higher roads, so check conditions.

5. Near Irigny finish

   South of Lyon, the Rhône broadens into a powerful, heavily engineered river, lined with locks, power stations and chemical plants on the east bank. The west bank, where around Irigny, Charly and Vernaison, is softer: a strip of villages, orchards and market gardens rising gently towards the Monts du Lyonnais. Rides begin and end here for a simple reason: it sits outside the congested core of the city but within easy reach of it.

   The area was once famous for its fruit, particularly cherries and peaches, and in early summer you will still see roadside stalls selling local produce. The villages have a mixture of old stone farmhouses, nineteenth-century country houses built by wealthy Lyon families, and modern suburbs. Across the river, the industrial corridor known as the Vallée de la Chimie is one of the largest concentrations of chemical industry in France, a reminder that Lyon's prosperity was built on silk, chemicals and engineering.

   Lyon itself is famous for its food, and if you are finishing a ride here, it is worth heading into the city for dinner. The traditional restaurants known as bouchons serve hearty dishes like quenelles, andouillette and salade lyonnaise, washed down with Beaujolais or Côtes du Rhône. The old town, with its Renaissance houses and hidden passageways, and the hill of Fourvière, with its basilica and Roman theatres, are worth a visit too.

   The Beaujolais rides head north from here, either through the city or around it, to the vineyards and hills north-west of Lyon. Getting through or around Lyon can be slow, especially at peak times, and the motorway around the city is notoriously congested, so leave early. The local roads on the west bank are pleasant, winding through villages and orchards. The surrounding towns cover fuel and shopping. Summers in the Rhône valley are hot, and the mistral wind can blow strongly down the valley, especially in winter and spring, so be prepared for gusts.

6. High point near Bourgoin-Jallieu pass

   South and west of Bourgoin-Jallieu, the flat valley of the Bourbre gives way to a tangle of low hills, and these are the high points of the Bas-Dauphiné: rounded ridges, small woods of oak and chestnut, walnut orchards and farms with pebble walls. Further south they become the Terres Froides, the cold lands, a name that sounds harsh until you ride there in June and find nothing colder than a breeze across the hay meadows.

   None of this is mountain country, but the ridges give honest views. North-east, the Bugey and the first ridges of the Jura line the horizon; east, the Chartreuse and Belledonne stand up sharp and grey; on a really clear morning Mont Blanc itself appears as a pale tooth beyond them. That glimpse of the high Alps from a modest hill is one of the quiet pleasures of riding in Nord-Isère.

   The roads are a delight for anyone who likes rhythm. They roll and twist over the crests and down into small valleys, rarely straight for long, with good sightlines on the open ridges and tighter, shaded sections in the woods. Surfaces are mostly fine but patched in places, and farm traffic is common. The main roads around Bourgoin carry commuter traffic towards Lyon, so a mid-morning start is kinder.

   Hector Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André, in the Bièvre plain a little to the south, and the house where he grew up is now a museum devoted to him. It is a reminder that this unassuming country produced one of the great romantic composers. Fuel, food and coffee are all a few minutes away in Bourgoin-Jallieu or L'Isle-d'Abeau.

7. Scenic stretch near Tignieu scenic

   Tignieu-Jameyzieu sits on the plain between Lyon's eastern sprawl and the Rhône, where commuter villages have spread over old farmland and gravel terraces. It is not a destination in itself, but a few minutes north-east the scenery changes sharply. The Isle Crémieu, a limestone plateau bounded on three sides by the Rhône, rises above the plain, with cliffs, oak woods, dry meadows, small lakes and villages built of pale stone.

   Crémieu, the medieval town at its edge, is the jewel. Its covered market hall, built in the fifteenth century with a huge timber roof, still hosts the market. Fortified gates, an old Augustinian convent and the ruins of a castle above the town tell of its importance as a trading post on the road between Lyon and Savoy. Not far away, the caves at La Balme-les-Grottes have been visited for centuries, and legend links them to the smuggler Louis Mandrin.

   For a finishing stretch, the plain around Tignieu is flat and easy, with straight roads and roundabouts. The traffic can be heavy at commuting times, especially towards Lyon and the airport. The plateau of the Isle Crémieu offers more interest, with winding roads through woods and meadows, and the descent to the Rhône at Hières-sur-Amby or La Balme is pleasant. Surfaces are generally good.

   Fuel and food are available in Tignieu and Pont-de-Chéruy, and Crémieu has cafés and restaurants. If you finish the day here, a stroll through Crémieu's old streets in the evening light is a fine way to unwind.

8. Back to Beaujolais Dawn finish

   Dagneux and Béligneux are villages on the plateau north-east of Lyon, called the Côtière, a long terrace above the Rhône valley where the land breaks away in a steep slope toward the river. From the edge of the escarpment, the view stretches over the plain and, on a clear day, to the Alps on the horizon. The dot sits above the Rhône, at the edge of the Dombes, a country of ponds and woods that begins just to the north.

   The ride is called Beaujolais Dawn, and the name tells you what it is about. The Beaujolais is the wine region north-west of Lyon, on the other side of the Saône, where granite hills are carpeted with Gamay vines, and the villages are built from a soft, golden limestone that gives them a warm glow. The Pierres Dorées, as the area of golden-stone villages is called, are among the prettiest in France, and the wine, made from Gamay, is light, fruity and meant to be drunk young. Beaujolais Nouveau, released on the third Thursday of November, is a national ritual.

   Starting before sunrise has rewards. The mist lies in the valleys, the vineyards are silver with dew, and the first light turns the stone of the villages to honey. The roads in the Beaujolais are narrow and winding, with tight bends, short climbs and views of the vines, and there is almost no traffic early in the morning. In harvest time, from late August to September, tractors and trailers laden with grapes fill the roads, and the smell of fermenting must hangs in the air.

   Coming back toward Lyon, the way crosses the plateau of the Côtière, with straight roads through fields of maize and wheat. Traffic builds up near Lyon, and the roads around Montluel and Miribel can be heavy at commuter hours. Cameras are common.

   Fuel is easy here, with stations at the large supermarkets and in the nearby towns, and bakeries open early. A Lyonnais breakfast, with a coffee and a croissant, or a more substantial bouchon lunch with sausage and a glass of local wine, is a good reward after a morning ride.

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