Lac du Bourget Balcony Ride · part 1

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fuel stop in Saint-Martin-en-Haut

   Saint-Martin-en-Haut lives up to its name: it sits high in the Monts du Lyonnais, on a plateau around seven hundred metres up, about thirty kilometres west of Lyon. On a clear day, the views from the village stretch east over the Rhône valley to the Alps, with Mont Blanc visible on the horizon, and west over the rolling hills to the Monts du Forez.

   Read the complete Fuel stop in Saint-Martin-en-Haut write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lac du Bourget Balcony Ride is where the day begins. Next is Food stop in Saint-Étienne.

2. 2. Food stop in Saint-Étienne

   Saint-Étienne wears its history in layers of coal, iron and cloth, and from the ring roads on the north side you can see how a city spread across a series of ridges, with the hills of the Pilat to the south and the mining basin of the Gier to the east. This is the second time the rides use it as a base, and it makes sense: with nearly a hundred and seventy-six thousand people, it has fuel on every approach, early bakeries and a tram that runs through the centre. The suburbs of Saint-Genest-Lerpt and Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, each with about six thousand people, climb the hills on the north side and make the quickest exit onto quieter roads.

   Read the complete Food stop in Saint-Étienne write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Food stop in Saint-Étienne is where this day stops to eat. Next is Scenic stretch in Moidieu.

3. 3. Scenic stretch in Moidieu

   Moidieu-Détourbe is a quiet village in the hills east of Vienne, in the valley of the Gère, among fields, pastures and woods. It is a typical Bas-Dauphiné village, with a church, a few farms and houses, and a peaceful atmosphere. The surrounding hills offer pleasant views over the countryside.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch in Moidieu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch in Moidieu. Next is High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau.

4. 4. High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau

   L'Isle-d'Abeau is a town that was planned on paper. In the 1970s, it was chosen as one of the new towns designed to absorb the growth of big French cities, in this case Lyon, and its neighbourhoods were built around the old village on the hills between Lyon and Grenoble. The result is a mix of modern housing, business parks and green spaces, practical rather than beautiful, but surrounded by countryside that is much more appealing.

   Read the complete High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau closes the day.