Stage Three: Chalon-sur-Saone to Col de Larche

Taking the most direct route South was blisteringly sunny, soothingly quiet and visually delightful as the hills to the East creep every closer with each passing hour.


Free range chickens abound in the corn feilds, horses and cattle graze quietly and the road to Bourg-en-Bresse is smooth and sunny.

The dereliction of the nothern farm houses has passed away and the buildings here are beautifully restored and well kept with an air of quiet wealth.

Bourg is more of the new and less of the old but, again, a delightfully relaxed and civilised place to rest before tackling the Alps in a few days' time.

I'm staying at the wonderfully friendly and remarkably cheap Hotel Revermont whilst enjoying a day off strolling around.

The bike and the legs are holding up well and I'm already looking forward to the Alps and Italy.

I'm planning a slightly more eastward route then one one above in order to take in Grenoble and avoid the climb through the Col de Rousset. Even though it's stunning, I'll take kindly the counsel of the years and not climb mountains I don't need to!

The countryside south of Bourg changed again and is full of charming old farmhouses.

The Cote du Rhone is absolutely spectacular and best of all there's a cyclepath signposted all the way to Geneva, and I'm sorely tempted!

I camped one night right on the riverbank next to a grove of walnut trees and had a cooling dip at the end of a long hot day.

The quality of the light and the air here is amazing, and the silky smooth cyclepath a real treat. I don't even need to get off the bike to take pics like this on the fly.

However, the loing hot climb pushing up and out of the Rhone valley was very tough but the next stop was a campsite by the side of Lake Paladru, the perfect antidote.

In the morning a passing cyclist gave me the tip that there's another cycle path from Moirans to Grenoble - sounds like a winner.

While shoppoing in Moirans I met the lovely Danielle and her husband Christian who've kindly let me use their computer to upoad this lot.

She also showed me the way to the cyclepath which runs alongside the Isere all the way into the centre of Grenoble.

Grenoble is a very stylish place but cities aren't the best places for cycle-camping. However, I was shown to an excellent laundrette, which is essential! By the time the laundry was done it was dark so it was into low-profile stealth mode and a kip in the park for me :)

It's steaming hot here for cycling on a heavily loaded bike, 30°+ and the hills are getting bigger all the time!

The higher you get the more barren it becomes. The clarity of the light is amazing and the air is as fresh as it gets - and it's still hot!

I feel so totally free and so utterly priviliged to be able to make this trip and be up here travelling alone.

The climbs are hard though, it's been up hill all the way from Grenoble rising about 250ft every mile.

Finally, after a four day slog through some of the most amazing scenery, I reached the Col de Larche - 1992 metres above sea level.

Here I met Hans, the kind Swiss biker who took the pic and who's Ducati you can see behind me.

The roads are absolutely buzzing with bikes here, it' a very "motad" friendly area, and it's no surprise Ducatis are so good if these are the roads they develop them on. The hills may not be alive to the sound of music exactly, but desmodronic v-twins rule round here!

On to Stage Four!