Why this ride
Out of Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne, one way: 327 km, roughly 5 h 45 in the saddle. The stops in between: Scenic stretch near Aveize, Sury-le-Comtal and near Le Péage-de-Roussillon. near Belleville is the high point.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Jura Wine Roads and Cascades · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 327 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 45
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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. Food stop near Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne
Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne sits just above the Saône, where the little Chalaronne river ends its slow journey across the Dombes and slips into the bigger river near Thoissey. From the edge of the village the land drops to the Val de Saône, a broad floodplain of meadows and poplar rows, and across the water the slopes of the Beaujolais rise in neat green ranks of vines.
Read the complete Food stop near Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne is where the day begins. Next is High point near Belleville.
2. High point near Belleville
Belleville-en-Beaujolais lies on the Saône at the foot of the Beaujolais hills, and it has one treasure that surprises most visitors: an eighteenth-century Hôtel-Dieu, a charitable hospital with great wards lined with curtained beds, a chapel and an apothecary with its original jars. It served the sick for more than two centuries and is now a museum, one of the best-preserved hospitals of its kind in France.
Read the complete High point near Belleville 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 near Aveize.
3. Scenic stretch near Aveize
High in the Monts du Lyonnais, Aveize looks out over a rolling plateau of meadows, hedgerows and small woods, where dairy farming has shaped the landscape for centuries. It is a modest village with a church and scattered farms, typical of these hills west of Lyon, where the air is fresher than in the city and the pace of life slower.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Aveize write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch near Aveize. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return.
4. Near Sury-le-Comtal, on the way back
The Forez plain is one of those places you do not notice until you are in it: a wide, flat basin of the upper Loire, ringed by the Monts du Forez to the west and the Monts du Lyonnais to the east. This stop lies on its southern half, between Précieux, Sury-le-Comtal and Saint-Romain-le-Puy, in a country of fields, hedges, scattered farms and, here and there, the glint of a pond.
Read the complete Near Sury-le-Comtal, on the way back 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, about halfway. Next is Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon.
5. Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon
In 1564, during a royal tour of France, the young king Charles IX stayed at the château of Roussillon, on the hill above what is now Le Péage-de-Roussillon, and signed an edict there that fixed the start of the year on 1 January across the kingdom. Until then, different regions began the year at Easter, Christmas or other dates. The château still stands, a Renaissance building with an elegant courtyard, overlooking the Rhône valley.
Read the complete Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon sits at 214 km, about halfway. Next is Jura Wine Roads and Cascades checkpoint 8.
6. Near Neuville-sur-Saône
On the west bank of the Saône, opposite Neuville, the land rises quickly from the river into the Monts d'Or. This stop sits on that slope between Chasselay and Albigny-sur-Saône, where the last suburbs of Lyon fade into orchards, stone walls and small vineyards, and the hills begin to glow golden in the evening light.
Read the complete Near Neuville-sur-Saône write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 327 km. Next is Back to Jura Wine.
7. Back to Jura Wine
The Dombes plateau, north-east of Lyon, is the strangest piece of farmland in France. Spread across it are some thousand-odd ponds, made by hand over the centuries, filled in winter, fished in autumn, and then planted with cereals in a rotation that has been going for hundreds of years. Medieval monks and landowners dug them to farm carp, and the system still works, which is why the horizon here is a patchwork of reed, water and sky, full of herons and migrating ducks.
Read the complete Jura Wine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Jura Wine closes the day.
Leg by leg
Food stop near Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne to High point near Belleville
Food stop near Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne → High point near Belleville is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Belleville to Scenic stretch near Aveize
High point near Belleville → Scenic stretch near Aveize is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Scenic stretch near Aveize to Near Sury-le-Comtal, on the way back
Scenic stretch near Aveize → Near Sury-le-Comtal, on the way back is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon to Near Neuville-sur-Saône
Photo stop near Le Péage-de-Roussillon → Near Neuville-sur-Saône is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.