May 20, 2025 to May 21, 2025
Mont du Chat Tunnel
May 20, 2025
This was a rest day in Chambéry, a day off the bike to wander a bit and catch up on the journal. While others in the group experienced some noteworthy moments, it was a pretty uneventful day for me and hence nothing to report.
May 21, 2025
Rested and raring to go, I was ready for Scott’s suggestion that we ride up through the Mont du Chat tunnel, which crosses Mont du Chat and connects Bourget-du-Lac with the area known as the Savoyard foreland. I won’t belabor the narrative too much as I’m falling behind in the journal and there can be more to gleane by reading Scott’s version. Suffice it to say it was another special day cycling through spectacular scenery.
Scott and I set off under cloudy skies with hopes for clearing later in the day. There were a few hiccups at the start and it was almost 11:30 before we reached the cycle path that would take us to Lac-du-Bouget – I was ready for elevenses before we even left! Lucky for me, we happened on a small food stand at a putt-putt course near the marina where I feasted on a hot dog and Fanta.
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We left the lake and began the short climb up to the tunnel – a somewhat steep but manageable ascent through Bourdeau where we joined the D914 highway. There are actually two Mont du Chat tunnels, one for D914 road traffic and the other for us “soft mobility” travelers such as cyclists, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles. There was a shoulder on the very short stretch of D914 before we turned off at the tunnel entrance and entered a wide, cool, ~1500m long corridor festooned with murals depicting area landmarks and activities.
It was a magical ride. I even saw “Santa Claus” who I’d passed a few days earlier on my way north along the Via Rhona – unfortunately I did not recognize him soon enough to get another picture.
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We exited the tunnel to a completely new landscape dominated by the sloping hills, small hamlets and vineyards of the Savoyard foreland. We rolled along the plateau for four miles, stopping often for pictures. Had we desired, we could have continued down to Chanaz and the Rhone River, intersecting with the route I took up the river just last week. There isn’t much to say about this glorious stretch – other than to note that each cyclist we passed was sporting a grin as big as ours.
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Scott had mapped a return route to Chambéry that took us up along the small roads above the lake. It was a bit bumpier at the start but it provided a nice contrast to the cycle route we’d taken on the way out. We arrived back at the hotel around five – just enough time for a quick Chat nap before dinner.
Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 533 miles (858 km)
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