We had been debating whether to go round or through Lyon as big cities are no fun on a bike. Today we ended up going through it.

We started out without a bike path today and lots of traffic leaving Creches-sur_Saone. However Kris ably navigated us to some quieter country roads to the east of the Saone river and we had an enjoyable ride through some very picturesque towns – all ocher walls and old men tending immaculate vegetable patches. Roughly going south along the Saone, but not usually in sight of it.

Some of the hills in this area really remind me of the Western Cape.

We stopped at the tourist info at Trevoux, a beautiful town right on the river with ancient stone buildings. They were very helpful and booked our accommodation and provided maps.

Then onto Lyon. We navigated through along the river the whole way and out the other side without veering into central streets. Coming into Lyon was lovely – there was a bike path, albeit part of the road, and we traveled along the river looking at all the buildings; cafes; bridges; avenues of trees etc. Towards the center it became denser and denser – some parts very nice along the waterfront and others difficult to negotiate. It is a huge city. Caught sight of some stunning old buildings but also some very unusual modern architecture on the southern side.

Leaving was a bit of a nightmare with bike access disappearing and cars in all directions. Kris did wonders again guiding us onto back streets and then through to the town of Irigny on the outskirts.

In all we did around 85km. It was extremely hot in the late afternoon – the temperature seems to build up during the morning and peak at around 3pm – then not cool down until around 9pm

Highpoints:

• Having a cold beer at the top of a long hill in Irigny, only a few hundred meters from our destination – very friendly garden restaurant-pub.
• Our accommodation in Irigny -in a nice residential area – we have a flat at the bottom of a large home with it’s own entrance. There is a large garden. Full kitchen, bathroom and bedroom very nicely decorated. Very comfortable and private. Also full Internet access here (cable not wifi).

Lowpoints

• Two spokes broken