Why this ride
267 km one way from Biol - plan on about 3 h 58 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Route Napoléon Weekend · part 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 267 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 58
- 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. Scenic stretch near Biol
North-west of Grenoble, the hills of the Bas-Dauphiné fold into a quiet country of meadows, woods and ponds that the locals call the Terres Froides, the cold lands, because of their damp, clayey soils and frosty winters. Biol is one of its villages, scattered across the slopes with farms and a church, and it gives a good taste of a part of Isère that most visitors drive straight past on the motorway.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Biol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Biol is where the day begins. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides return.
2. Near Guilherand-Granges, on the way back
Across the Rhône from Valence, the Ardèche bank rises fast. Guilherand-Granges and Saint-Péray sit at the foot of the slope, and above them the ruined castle of Crussol stands on its limestone crest like a broken tooth, visible from half the valley. This stop is on that western side, between Toulaud and Soyons, where the suburbs give way to scrub, vines and the first real hills of the Vivarais.
Read the complete Near Guilherand-Granges, 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 122 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Ambert.
3. Food stop near Ambert
Ambert has a round town hall, and it is not the strangest thing about the place. This small town in the Livradois-Forez, deep in the Massif Central, is also the home of fourme d'Ambert, one of France's oldest cheeses, a mild blue made in tall cylinders. And in a valley just outside town, the Moulin Richard de Bas still makes paper by hand, as it has done for centuries, using water power and old wooden hammers. The writer Jules Romains set his comic novel Les Copains here, and the town has a good-natured, slightly eccentric feel.
Read the complete Food stop near Ambert 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 267 km.
Leg by leg
Scenic stretch near Biol to Near Guilherand-Granges, on the way back
Scenic stretch near Biol → Near Guilherand-Granges, on the way back is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.