Tournus - Tournon

ca 15 km

Left Tournus late in the evening. At 11 o clock PM stopped. Seemed to be a nice place (could find a little spot where to put my tent in the wood). Unfortunately, there was a railway line there. In the morning went further direction Macon.

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First day

Went to the other side of the Saone (second bridge). Would have been better stayed on the right side. Left of the soane the roads are in bad shape (just for farmers).

Macon

Leaving Macon. I do not like to ride into the city/ Along the right side of the Saone just some cafes, no shops.

At the Saone

All along the river : Swans.

Country road

Lot of traffic, so quite glad could leave and take a small lane.

Worse

No traffic, but for my bicycle the hell on earth. Many holes made slow down my average speed.

Way in the forest

The ways I took here were more intended for wanderers than for someone riding a bicycle. Average speed went down to 8 km/h.

Barriers

Quite important, if You make Your way with a bicycle and a trailer, that You can get thry the barriers.

Trails

Didn t meet anyone with a bicycle. Quite calm. Suits well if You want to set up Your tent and spend the night here.

The trail - not always straight forward

Sometimes I had to turn left and right not the shortest way to go along the river.

Endless

I had to move forward. No breakfast since Macon. No place to buy something. I got real hungry.

Restaurant

Looking for restaurants - I had to get to the other side of the Saone - wayup stairs to the bridge. But the restaurants I found were closed.

Bridge across the Saone

Looking ath the lane. This part of the track no bicycle came across.

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Bicycle and trailer

Completely exhausted. This time I travelled with a suite case, a sports bag and a saddlebag - along with the plastic box I kept with me since Mulhouse.

Beautiful Landscape

Last days of the month of march - rather cold where there was no sun.

Trails for walking

No way getting faster. Getting thru a landscape where I was all alone.

Trees

There must have been someone ...

Until reaching Villefranche sur Saone ...

the way did not improve - no firm surface - that s what I long for.

Camping Villefranche sur Saone

End of the first day. Some few km done. Despite the camping being closed quite glad having come here. Beautiful lake - I hope to get there once again in summer,

Bicycle trail

Not recommended taking the trail on the left side of the Saone. When there is a lot of rain parts of the trail get always flooded.

On the way to Trevoux

Many holes and not asphalted - left side of the Saone.

Trevoux : Bridge across the Saone

Breakfast in Trevoux (nearly lunchtime when I did arrive there). At Trevoux I changed for the right side of the Saone.

D51

After Quincieux I took the D51. Along the D51 there is a sidewalk which figures as a bike lane.

Boccuse

Haute cuisine. But I was not in the mood to stop

Lyon

It was easier than I had expected to travel thru Lyon with my trailer.

Bike Shop

I recommend staying at the right side of the Saone (Via Rhona the bike trail is on the right side as well). There are several bike shops there.

Along the Rhone

I was crossing a bridge and went to the centre. Quite bad idea because motorways and all kind of urban infrastructure makes it difficult getting forward.

Towards St Fons

Industrial suburb. Gipsy camp nearby. The whole area seems to be abandoned.

Autoroute du Soleil

Bike lane along the motorway (that suddenly stopped ...).

Via Rhona

Late at night I went accross the Rhone (there is the bridge from Ternay to Givors). I spent the night at Loire-sur-Rhone. After some kilometers I found the Via Rhona (near Saint Romain en Gal).

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Via Rhona

The first kilometers I went on the Via Rhona. Great feeling.

Sainte-Colombe

Breakfast in Sainte-Colombe. A rainy day.

After the rain

I have spent some hours below a bridge waiting for the end of the rain. The sun did not come out . But it was not cold and I enjoyed travelling.

Spring

Now at the Rhone even a rainy day nature looks more colorful. I cannot remember having seen trees with flowers along the Saone.

Mother nature I

Near Condrieu there is a nature reserve.

Mother nature II

Some barriers (probably to prevent motorcycles from entering the wood), quite a hassle for me.

Pension in Condrieu

Gîte Julie 32, Grande Rue Gite & Chambre D Hotes - Tel 0474561783 bzw 0622096416. The landlord is in fond of riding bicycles and has made some bigger trips. You can be shure that You get a good accomodation for You and Your bicycle.

Carrefour in Condrieu

From Wednesday to Friday this was the first time I saw a big supermarket (there were no little shops either).

Via Rhona

The following day I continued travelling on the Via Rhona (lot of sunshine) - weather forecast was raining for the next day.

Via Rhona

Always down the right side of the river

Via Rhona

Folks with their bicycle and pedestrians. Less frequent driving through a wood.

Via Rhona

The bike lane is asphalted but has many cracks.

Via Rhona

Had to get to the other side of the river. Maybe possible having lunch at Sablons (Google Maps is reporting a restaurant there. As I did not see any restaurant did not stop there.)

Via Rhona

Many ships transporting containers on the river Rhone. Saw a ship with more than 50 containers.

Via Rhona

The bike lane is everywhere asphalted. But there are portions of the track full of holes. Could push my average speed to more than 12 km/h .

Bridge from Andancette to Andance

I left Condrieu in the morning . Neither shops nor restaurants near the bicycle lane.

Andancette

Andancette - looking towards Andance

Andancette

In Andancette all bars and shops seemed to be closed. So I had lunch in Andance.

Via Rhona

Left side of the Rhone. The surface of the bike lane was in a lot better shape.

My Biwak tent in St. Vallier

I stopped because I was curious how the first camping ground I saw would be. Probably a good idea because this one did have some trees. Important for to fix the plastic cover giving shelter in case of rainy weather. In St Vallier I could go shopping in the Aldi supermarket and there are some bars and shops. Besides the camping ground here is rather cheap, less than 10 Euros (Camping Municipal)

Biwak tent

Rain shower at 6 o clock in the morning. Fortunate having a plastic cover with me. A bigger and more comfortable tent would have been more difficult protect against rain.