Distance: 124.5 km
Ride time: 7:01:42
Average: 17.7 km/h
Max speed: 45.7 km/h
Total: 56227 km
The day started at the local boulangerie for a latte and a croissant – this is France after all 🙂
The direct route from Spain to Denmark would not have taken me close to the Alps but rather directly towards Belgium and The Netherlands. There were two reasons why I diverted slightly to the east; I wanted to meet my friends in Switzerland where I used to live 10 years ago, and I wanted to say a quick hello to the Alps, the final mountain range of this trip.
The view of the Alps didn’t disappoint as I followed the Valle d’Isere towards Chambery. This is an important area for cycling as the Tour de France often passes by. The famous Alpe d’Huez climb is also close but I opted to take the slightly more direct route – gotta make it up north before the winter…
In Lausanne 10 years ago I would would wake up every morning with views over Lake Geneva and the Alps in the background. Even though Chamebery is in France and not in Switzerland the view over Lake Bourget was very similar, and I felt completely at home as I cycled along the shore. Now I’m looking forward to reach Switzerland tomorrow, another milestone on the way north.
The camp site I had found on Google Maps turned out to be closed for the season, so I opted for wild camping instead. Finding a good spot in an empty field behind a forest was easy enough – the only thing that didn’t really cooperate was the weather – slow rain all night.
I’m hoping for dry weather tomorrow as I aim for Lake Geneva!
The scenery certainly doesn’t disappoint, does it!