CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
283 km from Versoix to Versoix, about 4 h 00 of riding. The stops in between: Stations de Morges, Lavaux, Baie de Clendy and back through Lavaux. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 47 km this is Route des Grandes Alpes, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Lake Geneva, which the locals call the Leman, is the largest lake in western Europe, and its southern shore, curving between Geneva and the French border, is where the river Rhone leaves the water. The little places of Corsier-Port and Anieres lie on the left bank, among villas, vineyards and gardens that slope down to the water, and they are among the most elegant addresses in the canton. The French shore across the lake rises into the mountains of Chablais, and on a clear day the whole range of the Mont Blanc can be seen to the south-east, a white line above the water.
Read the complete Port write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Port is where the day begins. Next is Stations de Morges.
On a calm morning the lake off Morges is as flat as polished pewter, with the Savoy Alps on the far shore and Mont Blanc floating above them, and it is hard to believe that anyone ever had to fight for this view. Yet people have been living right here for millennia. Just off the shore, in the shallow water near the town, lie the remains of prehistoric villages built on piles, the Stations de Morges, one of the Swiss components of the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. Divers and archaeologists have mapped wooden posts and objects from the Bronze Age, but from the shore you will see only water, swans and the occasional paddleboarder.
Read the complete Stations de Morges write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Stations de Morges comes up 39 km in. Next is Lavaux.
From the shore of Lake Geneva the vineyards of Lavaux climb almost vertically, terrace upon terrace, held up by stone walls, to villages perched on the slopes above. Monks from Cistercian abbeys began shaping these hillsides in the Middle Ages, and generations of winegrowers have rebuilt the walls ever since, carrying soil back up when rain washes it down. The result is one of the most striking wine landscapes in the world, stretching about thirty kilometres between Lausanne and Montreux, and listed by UNESCO in 2007. Locals like to say that the vines here enjoy three suns: the one in the sky, its reflection off the lake and the warmth stored in the stone walls.
Read the complete Lavaux write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
78 km in you reach Lavaux. Next is Baie de Clendy.
At the southern tip of Lake Neuchâtel, just east of Yverdon-les-Bains, the shore curves into a shallow bay fringed with reeds, poplars and a beach where local families swim in summer. Behind it, in a meadow, stands a double row of tall grey stones. These are the menhirs of Clendy, raised by Neolithic farmers more than five thousand years ago and re-erected in the twentieth century after they were found toppled in the ground. Offshore and along the bay lie the remains of lakeside settlements of the same era, part of the UNESCO listing of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.
Read the complete Baie de Clendy write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Baie de Clendy, about halfway. Next is back through Lavaux.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lavaux write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lavaux sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stations de Morges.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stations de Morges write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Stations de Morges comes up 194 km in. Next is Port.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Port write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Port closes the day.
Port → Stations de Morges is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stations de Morges → Lavaux is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lavaux → Baie de Clendy is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baie de Clendy → back through Lavaux is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lavaux → back through Stations de Morges is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stations de Morges → Port is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.