The terrain on this route is surprisingly flat, considering the proximity to the Chartreuse and Vercors mountains. This was fortunate as we were out of practice for climbing hills. The climb up to the chambre d'hote was the only significant challenge.
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Roads (best for cycling in green, worst in red)
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GRENOBLE
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Isere, 38 |
Dinner in Grenoble the night before at La Table des Halles - good food and wine at moderate prices, highly recommended.
It was very cold on the first morning - plenty of frost! We had to buy a pair of winter gloves for George in Grenoble. There is now a network of very good inner-city cycle tracks in Grenoble but we chose to use the train for the first 15 kms to avoid the heavy traffic on the outskirts.
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train
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Rives
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minor road llel to D519
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St Etienne de St Geoirs
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We left the warmth of the train at the late hour of 11:15, avoiding the worst of the frost. The minor road (via the amusingly-named village of Beaucroissant) avoids some heavy traffic and keeps clear of the airport at St Geoirs (passing through the village instead).
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D130 - D157 - D66 - D51
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Palais Ideal - Hautrives
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Drome, 26 |
The D157 through the 'Camp Militaire' and down to la Grand Serre was the pizewinning section of this day's route, despite the signs warning of 'danger de mort' if you leave the road. We came upon the 'Palais Ideal' (see below) unexpectedly. The cold and our desire to reach the chambre d'hote before dark prevented us from doing the visit.
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D51 - D161
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La Motte-de-Galaure (Fay le Clos)
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63 km
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Chambres d'Hote, 'Les Liattes' Mme Delhomme
We arrived with plenty of daylight left to explore the surroundings on foot. These were our first views down towards the Rhone. The CdH was easily the least expensive of our trip (at just €30) but the comfort was adequate.
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