Sunday 15th August
Today is actually a public holiday in France, Assumption, though I’m not sure exactly what festivals or parties there were to commemorate this. I didn’t necessarily see that much evidence of any. Also I suppose that because the weather wasn’t very good people weren’t celebrating it that much, as well as the fact that it fell on Sunday.
Today was straight forward in terms of plans. I took a train from Dijon to Chalon sur Saone and then began my ride to get to Bourg en Bresse.
For once the train actually functioned fine. In fact I got a train that was slightly earlier than the one I’d originally planned to get.
The only issue I’ve had regarding the plans today was with the weather.
It actually began to rain last night in Dijon and it was quite heavy rain all through the night and then it stopped but started again first thing this morning.
So my ride from the Formule 1 hotel to the train station at Dijon was a little wet. It was difficult because my glasses were getting steamed up and I couldn’t see where I was going very well.
It also didn’t start that well for me when I fell off my bike as I came out of the Formule. My back wheel got caught in the narrow gauge train line that’s just outside the hotel. Normally I’m able to ride through train lines without any incident but maybe because of the fact that it was raining my back wheel got caught and I went flying, which was abit embarrassing particularly as there were quite a lot of people spectating the incident. I wasn’t hurt. I got back on my bike quite quickly and got going again.
Overall I think this leg of the trip to Dijon has been a bit of a shame. Given the problem yesterday which meant I didn’t get to Burgundy until roughly 4pm and the fact that the weather was quite bad this morning meant that I didn’t really get the chance to look around Dijon.
So the only part of Dijon that I really know is the area around the Formule 1 Hotel at Le Toison d’Or, an out of town industrial park and Centre Commercial, and the route to get from there to Dijon station. So I didn’t see the Palais des Duques for example which is a big area with lots of monuments and I certainly didn’t have any inclination to stop and look around in the pouring rain this morning.
I took the train from Dijon to Chalon sur Saone.
Luckily when I arrived there it was still raining but not quite as heavily given that I was further South and the forecast had been for less rain the further South you go.
So as I went on with my ride I found that the weather was getting drier and drier, which was good.
So in fact after a couple of hours of riding I was even able to take off my coat and ride in short sleeves as the sun was coming out.
The ride took me to Bourg en Bresse.
It was straight forward – just following one road which was not challenging at all. I would probably say that today’s ride was the least challenging of all the riding I’ve done. It was certainly less challenging than yesterday’s ride through the Cote d’Or, which had included a lot of hills – albeit small hills, but quite a lot.
Today’s ride was gently undulating and that was it. It was even easier than the ride through Normandy, which is always considered as pan flat. Well this ride was flat flat, which was good.
Also as I was riding I began to get my first sightings of the Alps, or the Jura – I’m not sure which. In any case I could see mountains which was quite exciting.
I went through the area known as Bresse.
I got talking to a guy who gave me a very brief rundown of the local specialty which is chicken which is AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controle) and apparently the best chicken you could get.
I didn’t actually sample the chicken, but the story is this area of Bourg en Bresse and the area around it the best area to get chicken and in fact there were lots of monuments and photos in praise of the chicken.
There wasn’t anything else of note about the trip. There were quite a few families out playing bowls (Boules) along the way and there were a lot of old houses.
Bourg en Bresse seems to be a very old town and I managed to get very pictures of Oak beamed houses which were not dissimilar to the houses I saw in Normandy around Lyons la Foret.
The only snag I had was sods law. I arrived in Bourg en Bresse at 4pm and was very pleased that the sun was shining and I took some nice photos.
Just as I had decided to make tracks to the hotel a very big black cloud came over me and I literally had to make a run for it to reach Peronas, the suburb of Bourg en Bresse where the Formule 1 Hotel was. I dashed for it, but sadly could not avoid the rain.
I did actually see a sign for Formule 1 and began to take that road, but to my frustration I couldn’t get there quick enough and I didn’t know where the hotel was.
I was wondering where it was and rather than trying to find the hotel in the pouring rain I decided to stop off and take shelter in a dustbin area, which was the only shelter I could find. I thought that the storm would not last long, but in fact it lasted quite a long time.
I asked a couple of people if they knew where the Formule 1 was but they didn’t know.
When the rain subsided I did start riding around the area and along the road I was supposed to take but there was no sign of any hotel. I just seemed to be riding further and further into rural areas, which was abit annoying.
Suddenly there was another downpour, which was really annoying to have just when I’d thought the rain had finished and this time I went to shelter in an unmanned petrol station. I felt abit silly just standing there sheltering from the rain in a petrol station with motorists coming in wanting to get their petrol and wondering who this strange woman was standing there with her bicycle.
I asked one of the customers if she knew where the Formule 1 hotel was and she said that I was on the right road but in fact the hotel was a good 3 miles away. That reassured me to know I was on the right road but it wasn’t very pleasing to see that I was going to have to ride another 3 miles in the grim weather.
I did so and finally arrived at the hotel, which is apparently only 15 km away from the Pont d’Ain, which I have on my map as being 30km from Bourg en Bresse. According to the sign boards I was only 15 km away, which gives an indication as to how far out of Bourg en Bresse this Formule 1 Hotel really is.
It is a little bit frustrating to know that you are so far out because the worst thing is knowing where to get something to eat. Luckily there was a convenient restaurant, La Courte Paille where I had my dinner.
It was a reasonable meal. I only paid 10 euros for a good steak and chips with vegetables and wine, as would be de rigueur around here, plus coffee.
So I’m full and happy. I now have a big day tomorrow, which involves riding from here – just outside Bourg en Bresse, all the way to Aix les Bains. I think it’s likely to be 120km and will take in the first few climbs of the Alps.
Footnote: Funny quote of the day: I actually met a local in one of the villages that I cycled through today on my way to Bourg en Bresse. It was actually in a place called St Trivier de Courte – a very nice little village with lots of old houses. I got talking to one of the locals there and as ever the locals are always really intrigued when they see you riding along and carrying panniers. They ask you where you’re going, where you’ve been and always very impressed that you’ve come all this way by bike. This man he was warning me to be careful as it’s along way to go etc. I told him that I was going to Bourg en Bresse, which was 30km from where we were and he said “You take care because it’ll probably take you about 3 hour won’t it?” I half laughed to myself – I may not be quick, but I’m not that slow!
Monday 16th August
I am now at the Youth Hostel at Aix les Bains.
It is only twenty to four, so technically I should still have been outside riding. In fact I’ve been here probably 2 hours or so.
Basically the story is that there was a lot of rain this morning when I woke up at Bourg en Bresse.
The weather forecast had been slightly variable but still around the same theme – rain, but it was a question of when and how much. Yesterday afternoon the forecast suggested there’d only be a little bit of rain in the morning and the afternoon would be dry, albeit cloudy.
Then this morning the weather forecast was saying that there would be rain all day all over the Alps – in fact the forecast this morning seemed nearer to the truth.
So when I woke up this morning in the hotel in Bourg en Bresse there was rain on the main road.
That scuppered my plans because I had to rethink what to do.
The original plan had been to go up to the hills between Bourg en Bresse and Aix les Bains and go over 3 or 4 cols including Grand Colombier. In fact I had to give that idea a miss.
The other option was to stay in the valley and take the main national road. But looking at how many cars and trucks were passing by in the pouring rain that really didn’t look like a viable option in my opinion. It was certainly not a safe option.
So I did manage to find some little roads that were within the vicinity of the main road but still in the valley. So I took roads that went round little villages La Tranquiere, Drioillat, Chateau Gaillard. I eventually reached Amberieu en Bugey.
I reached Amberieu en Bugey but I have to say that the ride to reach there had been pretty miserable. It was very dull, very grim, and in fact while I was riding the rain got heavier and heavier.
Although I was quite well prepared with a few layers, big waterproof coat and overshoes and winter gloves it still was not fun riding in these conditions and I could feel everything was just wet through and horrible.
I arrived at Amberieu en Bugey and had to make a decision because looking at my map it appeared that I was running out of flat quiet roads in the valley and it looked like my option would be to take the main road but I really didn’t like the look of the main road.
There just seemed to be a lot of trucks, it was very industrial and I thought I really don’t fancy riding in this. I don’t want to ride into small roads that are going uphill because I just don’t fancy having to take on such conditions in the wet and the descents would be treacherous and it wouldn’t be fun since there would be a high risk of falling.
So I had to relinquish.
I was wet and horrible and I took the train at Amberieu and I just took it all the way to Aix les Bains.
The idea would be to check in at Aix les Bains and then if I felt like it I could go out for a ride in the area.
So here I am. In fact I must admit that by the time I reached Aix les Bains I was just cold and wet and wanted to get out of my wet clothes and wet shoes, so I have decided not to ride around Aix les Bains.
Apparently there is a nice circuit that you can do around the Lac du Bourget.
We are situated right on the edge of this area and it’s quite popular and very touristic. There are lots of holiday apartments. There’s a big caravan site and possibly a caravan park and there are lots of restaurants around.
It’s almost got the feel of being beside a beach – though we are actually beside a very long lake. It’s all very nice here.
The only pity is that of course it’s grim. It’s grey. There’s low cloud, it’s drizzly and considering that this is mid-August, supposedly the height of summer, it might as well be Autumn. One of the panels I saw displayed a temperature of just 13 degrees Celsius. So it’s not summery at all.
Things have been a bit of an anti-climax. I’d been really looking forward to having my first stab at the alps.
The receptionist here at the youth hostel is from this area and she said it would have been a nice ride.
The climbs are not very high, not too difficult but very pleasant. There are a lot of climbs but it’s very pretty and I would have liked to have done those.
Today was meant to be a big day. I would have done 120km.
It would have been a really long day. These are the type of days I look forward to – long days in the saddle, in the saddle. Okay it’s hard work but when you get there you feel really great that you’ve done a good day’s riding and I have to admit I haven’t yet had that since I’ve been on this trip.
Somehow the trip seems to have had a few set-backs really. I haven’t had a day where everything has just come together and it was what you might describe as a holiday ride.
On my first day I did the riding and the weather was fine, but when I arrived at Gisors I had to go through the whole fiasco of taking a replacement bus which got me into Paris quite late.
In hindsight that was probably the best day.
The second day there was a train strike so I couldn’t leave Paris as early as I wanted, so in fact I ended up riding into Dijon quite late in the day. I felt like I was slightly up against it because I didn’t want to be out so late. I actually arrived in Dijon at 8 o’clock at night after having only ridden 40 miles. So that didn’t feel really satisfying.
I should have been able to do 40 miles and get it over and done with without thinking and have the rest of the day free. Instead I just seemed to have been out and about the whole day and only done 40 miles. There’d also been a bit of stress on that ride because there were even spots of rain.
Then and then yesterday’s ride had also been abit strange.
I started my ride in Dijon in the pouring rain and wasn’t able to visit any of Dijon city centre which is supposed to be nice.
Also although the actual ride into Bourg en Bresse was straight forward and pleasant enough I did have to make an executive decision to skip the section to Macon.
Macon again is a very picturesque town but I had to miss that out because of the high risk of showers and I didn’t want to be caught out in all of that so I had to take the most direct route to Bourg en Bresse. Even that didn’t go without the mishap of being caught in a big shower just trying to find the hotel.
Then what should have been a big day of riding from Bourg en Bresse to Aix les Bains has literally been a damp squib.
I am sitting in my room waiting for my clothes to finish in the laundery. They were all drenched so I thought I might as well put everything through the washing machine and wait for them to dry before I go out again.
I’m not sure how far I’ll actually get as it is raining and I don’t even have full shoes. Maybe that shouldn’t stop me, but it’s nicer to go out when the weather is fine.
So tomorrow, in theory I should be riding to Grenoble through the Massif de la Chartreuse. The receptionist here knows that area very well. She says it’s one of the nicest areas you could ride. It certainly looks good.
It should be 80km to Grenoble but again it remains to be seen if I’ll actually be able to do it.
The receptionist said herself that they don’t forecast particularly good weather for tomorrow. Now I saw that tomorrow should be nice – a mixture of sunny intervals and cloud, though no rain. But it remains to be seen if I will actually have a day where I can just ride without any worries or mishaps.
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