Why this ride
Out of L'Isle-d'Abeau, one way: 113 km, roughly 1 h 54 in the saddle.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Lac du Bourget Balcony Ride · part 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 113 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 54
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return → Lac du Bourget Balcony Ride photo pu
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 36 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 29 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return.
2. Near Péronnas, on the way back
Bourg-en-Bresse lies just east of here, and this stop sits on its western edge, between Péronnas, Buellas and Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg. The country is gentle, with fields, hedges, farm buildings and the outskirts of a mid-sized town. To the south the Dombes plateau begins, a region of hundreds of shallow ponds created by monks and lords in the Middle Ages for fish farming.
Read the complete Near Péronnas, 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 comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is Photo stop near Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne.
3. Photo stop near Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne
The Chalaronne winds its last few kilometres towards the Saône past Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne, a quiet village of brick and timber houses at the western edge of the Dombes. Here the plateau of ponds slopes down to the broad Saône valley, and the landscape becomes a mix of meadows, woods and fields, with the hills of the Beaujolais rising on the other side of the river.
Read the complete Photo stop near Saint-Étienne-sur-Chalaronne 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 113 km.
Leg by leg
High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau to Near Péronnas, on the way back
High point near L'Isle-d'Abeau → Near Péronnas, on the way back is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Chartreuse Forest Passes · part 3 · 196 km
- Isère Valley and Belledonne · part 1 · 225 km
- Ardèche Gorge Long Day · part 1 · 169 km
- Loire Gorges and Le Puy · 665 km