September 13, 2024
Voiron to St. Jean en Royans
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Today felt like a much easier day than yesterday, despite the almost 600 metres of climbing. It was the weather. While it was very cool, a ridiculous 6°C when we started out, and the weather app said it felt like 5°C, it was a much better day overall. Crazy though. Yesterday at the campground the proprietor said it was 30°C last week. Timing is everything! The good news is that cold is easier to deal with than being too hot. Just layer up in everything you brought with you. So after a great breakfast we did just that.
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It was also nice today to start with a long descent. We were immediately routed ono quiet roads with virtually no traffic. The views were tremendous and the weather was great at this point. Cold, but patches of blue sky made it very pleasant.
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Then the bike route put us on the Isere. This track was incredible. Views, flat, just amazing riding. No work for anyone because no navigation was required. River and jaw dropping mountain views on the left? You are where you should be.
Eventually of course, such perfection had to end and we climbed out of the valley and rode through hectares of walnut trees. It was peaceful and car free. The weather was putting on a show. Brief periods of sun and lots of big dark clouds. We hadn’t been rained on though.
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We decided to eat yesterdays picnic today at a little park in a small village. As we were cycling through a young boy, he couldn’t have been more than 12, wished us a happy journey and asked if we needed any help, in excellent English. It was charming. As for the picnic, we had our thermos of tea (we love that thermos) and relaxed. At the precise moment I told Keith I was getting chilled and we should get moving the sky opened up and it poured. We huddled under a tree and waited it out. At one point Keith thought it had run its course, but he only got as far as the next tree and it started again.
Then it was on again and off again for about an hour. We sheltered under a structure next to a church and I discovered it was spotless public toilets. There were a few more tree shelters, and then we were done with rain for the day.
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The wind started to pipe up, but luckily it was in the right direction. We rode through fields, small villages and had views always. It was very different from our last approach to St. Jean en Royans, so much so that I was completely turned around. We stopped to finish our tea and polish off our last tart from yesterday in a tiny community park. Keith drew me a map in the gravel and I finally had my head wrapped around where we were. Keith played a little pétanque while we were there with the local kids. He was pretty good!
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3 months ago
3 months ago
We wanted to stay at the bed and breakfast we stayed at in 2019. It was such a remarkable experience. We were hoping for two nights but they only had tonight available. Disappointing but better than no stay at all! We knew check in wasn’t until 5 PM, but bike travel being imprecise in the timing department we arrived an hour early. We sat observing the the growing wind in the garden and relaxed. I was happy for all those layers.
Once the host arrived we checked in and dropped the bags to ride back into St. Jean en Royans for some dinner. We were thinking a quick pizza, but this being France nothing was open yet and we were hungry. We went to the bakery instead, found some sustenance and rode back to the Chambre de Hôte to enjoy. We are delighted that the same family is running the property, he remembered us, and they now have four kids, adding one since our last visit. Talk about a busy life.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 472 km (293 miles)
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