Why this ride
From Châtonnay it runs 1023 km to Mornant; allow about 16 h 15 of riding. The climbs: near Sarras, Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière, near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet and in Tignieu.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chartreuse Forest Passes + Romans and Royans Backroads
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1023 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 16 h 15
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Châtonnay
Châtonnay is a farming village in the Bas-Dauphiné, on the gently rolling ground between Bourgoin-Jallieu and the Bièvre plain. Its surroundings are typical of this part of Isère: a mix of maize and wheat fields, pastures, hedges and small woods, with stone farmhouses and church towers on the low ridges.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Châtonnay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chartreuse Forest Passes is where the day begins. Next is High point near Sarras.
2. High point near Sarras
Sarras lies on the Ardèche bank of the Rhône, opposite Saint-Vallier, where the valley narrows between steep granite slopes. Behind the village, the river Ay comes tumbling out of the Ardèche hills through a deep, wooded gorge, and that gorge is the reason to be here.
Read the complete High point near Sarras write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière.
3. Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière
Coal made Roche-la-Molière. The town sits on the western edge of the Saint-Étienne basin, and for generations its hillsides were dotted with pit heads, slag heaps and miners' terraces. The mines are long closed, the spoil tips have grassed over, and today it is a quiet residential town of around ten thousand people with a château on its hill and good views back towards the city and the dark ridge of the Pilat beyond.
Read the complete Photo stop in Roche-la-Molière write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet.
4. Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet
In the Monts de la Madeleine, the hills between the Loire and the Allier, Saint-Just-en-Chevalet sits high on a ridge, a small village of granite houses where the main road from Lyon to Clermont-Ferrand once brought a steady stream of travellers. The motorway now runs to the south, and the village has returned to a quieter life, surrounded by forests, meadows and the occasional pond.
Read the complete Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The high point of this section. Next is Food stop in Saint-Amour.
5. Food stop in Saint-Amour
Saint-Amour sits at the very southern tip of the Jura department, where the first ridges of the Jura mountains meet the flat Bresse plain. The town is old and compact, with narrow streets, a church and a few remnants of its medieval past, and it has the relaxed feel of a place on the border between two worlds: the farms and chicken runs of the Bresse to the west, and the forests and limestone of the Revermont to the east.
Read the complete Food stop in Saint-Amour write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food at 255 km, roughly 5 hours into the riding. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return.
6. Near Moirans-en-Montagne, on the way back
Moirans-en-Montagne is a small town of about two thousand in the Jura, where the mountains of Franche-Comté are laid out in long, parallel ridges, and it has a surprise for the visitor: a museum of toys, one of the best in France, in an old convent, which celebrates the local tradition of toy-making in wood and plastic. The Jura has a history of small workshops using local timber, producing clocks, pipes, toys and spectacles, and that heritage is part of the area's character. Arinthod, a village of about thirteen hundred, is a handsome little market place with an arcaded square and a scattering of old houses.
Read the complete Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return comes up 318 km in. Next is Chartreuse Forest Passes checkpoint 8.
7. Near Chaponost
The Romans brought water to Lyon from the Pilat massif, some eighty kilometres away, and the most impressive surviving section of their work stands at Chaponost, a few kilometres from the point. The Gier aqueduct, as it is called, crossed the valleys on arches of stone and brick, and at Chaponost a long line of them still marches across a field, some still carrying their channels. It is a remarkable sight, all the more so for being in an ordinary suburban setting, and it is easily reached by a short detour.
Read the complete Near Chaponost write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chartreuse Forest Passes checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Chartreuse Forest.
8. Back to Chartreuse Forest
Cattle graze here in a landscape that few tourists see. The hills are low, the villages are small and the sky is big, a very different world from the limestone cliffs of the Chartreuse that gave the ride its name.
Read the complete Chartreuse Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Chartreuse Forest. That is the ride. Next is Romans and Royans Backroads.
9. Fuel stop near Mornant
Two thousand years ago, engineers from Lugdunum ran an aqueduct through these hills to carry water from the Gier valley to the Roman city, a channel some eighty kilometres long that bridged valleys on stone arches. Around Mornant, sections of those arches still stand in the fields, weathered and patched with ivy, and stumbling upon them on a back road is one of the quiet pleasures of riding in the Monts du Lyonnais.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Mornant write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Next is Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône.
10. Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône
Planning note
Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône is where this day stops to eat. Next is Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce.
11. Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce
Planning note
637 km in you reach Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce. Next is High point in Tignieu.
12. High point in Tignieu
Planning note
High point in Tignieu tops the climb. Next is Romans and Royans Backroads checkpoint 8.
13. Miribel
Planning note
Romans and Royans Backroads checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return.
14. Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne, on the way back
Planning note
Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return comes up 828 km in. Next is Photo stop in Blacé.
15. Photo stop in Blacé
Planning note
891 km in you reach Photo stop in Blacé. Next is Back to Romans and.
16. Back to Romans and
The land here belongs to the Monts du Lyonnais, a range of rounded hills south-west of Lyon that rise to about nine hundred metres at their highest and are made of old crystalline rock. Mornant, Chassagny and Taluyers sit on the eastern flank, where the slope falls toward the Rhône and the soil supports orchards, pasture and, in places, vineyards. The wines of the Coteaux du Lyonnais, mostly light, fruity Gamay reds, come from these hills, and there are small producers who will sell you a bottle in a cellar with a hand-painted sign.
Read the complete Romans and write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Romans and closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Châtonnay to High point near Sarras
Fuel stop near Châtonnay → High point near Sarras is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Sarras to Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière
High point near Sarras → Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière to Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet
Scenic stretch in Roche-la-Molière → Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet to Food stop in Saint-Amour
Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet → Food stop in Saint-Amour is 161 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop in Saint-Amour to Near Moirans-en-Montagne, on the way back
Food stop in Saint-Amour → Near Moirans-en-Montagne, on the way back is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Chartreuse Forest to Fuel stop near Mornant
Back to Chartreuse Forest → Fuel stop near Mornant is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Mornant to Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône
Fuel stop near Mornant → Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône to Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce
Food stop in Saint-Clair-du-Rhône → Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce to High point in Tignieu
Scenic stretch in Satolas-et-Bonce → High point in Tignieu is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Tignieu to Miribel
High point in Tignieu → Miribel is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop in Blacé to Back to Romans and
Photo stop in Blacé → Back to Romans and is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Lac du Bourget Balcony Ride · short arc · 322 km
- Beaujolais Dawn Sweep · 418 km
- Isère Valley and Belledonne + Beaujolais Dawn Sweep · 1051 km
- Pilat Ridge and Rhône View · 467 km