May 20, 2025
In Chambéry: up the Leysse River
So here's a really short post. I was thinking I'd just pack it together with the next day's but that one's likely to be chock-a-block with photos of its own so I might as well split this one out and take the pressure off tomorrow's. Besides, I've got five photos, a map, and even an SOTD. That's enough.
The story is pretty short though. The weather forecast was for rain all day, and I really hadn't expected to get out on the bike at all. Given this, the group planned on eating lunch as the main meal so we walked to a nearby hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese joint that mostly deals with takeout but has a few tables. Four of us (Janos opted out today) showed up right around noon, scored a table for four, and had a fine casual meal while we listened to Susan practice her French with the owner, a surprising woman who had her own bicycling stories to share.
As we ate I watched the weather report and was happy to see that a clearing period was developing, one hopefully wide enough for me to ride down to Lake Bourget and back for some birding. This was the ride I planned to do tomorrow, so by fitting it in today it opened up space for a more ambitious ride.
There's not much to say about the ride itself, which followed the route Suzanne rode in to town yesterday along the Leysse River, a small waterway that's really little more than a creek. It's a very pleasant ride, but not one that was rewarded by much in the way of birding. It did give me a new earworm to keep me company in the days ahead though: Up the Lazy River. I haven't thought of this old song (written by Hoagland Carmichael in the 30's) in many years, but it came to mind now because of the name of the river I'm following.
Like many songs you hear or learn when you're a child, the melody and at least some of the lyrics came immediately to mind, as well as the singers of the version I grew up on: the Mills Brothers. I remember listening to it at my grandmother's house when Elizabeth and I lived there in fifth grade, but I think I remember us listening to it back in Charleston years earlier also. And when I see the Decca 45 of that early version, that brings back a memory too.
While I biked down to the lake and back Susan and Suzanne went on a walking tour of the town, but Rachael of the Swollen Knee thought it was prudent to take the day off and relaxed in the room with a good book.
Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 773 miles (1,244 km)
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