With rumours of afternoon rain circulating, I headed off early in hopes of avoiding it, and as a consequence also enjoyed relatively cool temperatures to start with. I was a bit concerned when early on I found the road I was supposed to turn down was blocked off, but riding around the barriers was really easy and the warning of road closure proved quite irrelevant. With yesterday's tailwind persisting, the day was starting off extremely well. After crossing the dam I expected us to follow the road along the river so I was quite unprepared for the 1st-gear climb that I was directed to, and further dismayed to discover that whereas the distance to Valonne posted at the roundabout was 8 km, the sign uphill and around the corner from it claimed it was 9km away; ... read more

I suppose it's time to mention how thermally incompatible I am with my Ethiopian roommate. Last night we were finally in the mountains where the heat is no less intense by day, but things do at least cool off at night, and after many sweltering soirees to this point I was eagerly looking forward to some nocturnal relief. Alas, when I awoke I discovered why our room had inexplicably remained hot: I had given Mesfin the choice of beds and he had selected the one by the (open) window; when the temperature cooled down he got cold and closed part of it, leaving me to swelter on the far side of the room. Then after breakfast I climbed up the stairs to our room only to find the door locked with no one inside so I ... read more

No time to write today, had a bit of an adventure getting lost by following the right road?? It's almost 10PM as I write this and will go to sleep soon. hope to catch up tomorrow. Updated June 23 Where to start? The day began with a lovely al fresco breakfast topped off with a canoli courtesy of Dan while we assembled early in the shade hoping to get away before the day heated up too much. My original intention was to make this an easy transition day as we started the second half of our journey, and I figured I might add an additional loop at the end if I felt strong, but after a discussion with route-master Tom I opted instead to do an extra loop beforehand inasmuch as it was presented as a ... read more

(written on Wednesday) Today was one I had been looking forward to with both anticipation and a bit of trepidation, as I intended to tackle the Col du Grand Colombier - the highest road pass in the Jura, and one I had foregone on my previous trip to this area in 2013 - and I was still not entirely sure I would be able to make it up it's steep inclines with the gearing on my bike (which is not particularly low) being powered by my now older and not-as-well-trained legs. In anticipation of another hot day we all - even those choosing to ride an abbreviated and less-demanding route - tried to get away early, yet somehow it was already 8:00 when I rolled out of the hotel parking lot to begin my journey. Even ... read more

Today was mostly just a pleasant ride, 3/4 of it on a rails-to-trails bike path. After fuelling up in the hotel's funky breakfast 'cave' (seemingly an old wine cellar) we navigated the 3 km out of town on pretty much traffic-free streets (it being Sunday) before opting to travel 68kms on the bike path that took us almost all the way to Macon. As the morning wore on, many families and others joined us. Although there were quite a few 'level crossings' (mostly at farm tracks) it was interesting to see that even at some (but not all) regular roadways the motorists had stop signs while cyclists were given the right of way. Most intersections also had stiles on the path to ensure cyclists slowed down and were cautious. After about 24km I pulled over to ... read more