In Pont-en-Royans: day three

May 27, 2025

The seven of us meet up at breakfast for the last time today as the group starts to fragment and go separate ways. Jacquie and Al are first to split off, leaving not long after breakfast; but the rest of us will separate tomorrow morning also: Susan will bike to Valence and catch the train back to Paris; Janos will drive Rachael and me to the Lyon Airport for our flight home, and then return here to pick up Suzanne and begin their two day drive back to their home in Gauting.

I've been mentally reviewing the many times we've met up with these folks. Jacquie and Al were the first, when we met them and other CBers on our ride from Victoria back to Portland six years ago; but since then we've reunited with those two in Palermo, Vancouver, and now here. We first met the other three within days of each other in 2021 on our ride to Rome - Suzanne and János at their home in Gauting, and then Susan (and the Fenwicks!) in Salzburg, but there have been many meetups since: with all three of them in Burgundy and Extramadura; with Suzanne and János in northern Italy; and with Susan in Paris (twice), the Lot and the Tarn, Amiens, and Tucson.

Ever since Covid it's become practically an annual event that we'll run into one or more of this crowd, often enough that they're starting to feel like family. Now, who knows when we'll cross paths again? We've all got so many unknowns in our lives, so there's no predicting. The optimist in me envisions spending some time north of the border while I'm rehabilitating from knee surgery, so maybe Jacquie and Al can figure in there (and the Classens; and the Mathers; and the Grampies; and Wendy; and Patrick and Suzanna finally; and maybe Mark back in Abbotsford, or Betsy up in Revelstoke, or Al and Eva in Nelson, or the Biggars in Kamloops or Lyle and Kirsten in Canmore - really, it's incredible how many bike travelers dwell north of the border, and we can't really expect any of them to venture south to our dark country for a good long while now. If we want to see them again before we get much older, we'll have to go north.

And maybe we'll get to go south to Tucson this winter and rehab there and meet up with that crowd. And maybe a late summer/early fall tour through the Low Countries and ending in Munich might be possible for next year. We could meet Ben and his cats in his new home in Holland, and Suzanne and János at the end, and somehow Susan always slips her foot in the door somewhere too. We could ship our suitcases (which are theirs originally anyway) to Suzanne and János and trust them not to lose them!

Who knows what tomorrow brings? Make the most of your days and hope for the best.

Al was slouched over checking out his route so I told him to look up. So he did.

The plan for our last ride together was hatched over dinner last night when Susan brought up the route I'd sent her earlier as a suggestion. It's a roughly 35 mile loop that crosses the Isère and then climbs up to the summit of Col de Madeleine (but not the famous one of same name in the high Alps). It's not much of a pass, but according to our notes from five years ago when Rachael and I took this ride there are good views over the top of the Vercors to the mountains beyond. The four of us - Suzanne, János, Susan and myself - agreed to ride it this morning while Rachael took one final walk. In anticipation of a good final video, we charged the GoPro battery last night.

This morning though Suzanne informed us that after looking it over again what they really wanted to do was to drive up the Bourne Gorge so Suzanne could see it for herself, and stop for a walk somewhere along the way. So it's just Susan and me when we start out. And even though the climbs are fairly modest we're only about half way up the first hill when both of us decide that we'd really be just as happy bagging the pass idea and puttering around through the low lands on this side of the river.

Another view north at the entrances to the Bourne Gorge on the left, and the Goulets on the right. If you pick your roads carefully you can enjoy some very scenic riding with a lot of topographic drama without too much of a sweat.

Rocks are one of the primary crops here on the flood plain of the Isère.

They're valued as the traditional building material in these parts.

It's not the only use put to the land though. Dill?

Even the boules court looks pretty stony. That must add an interesting dimension to the challenge.

We planned to stop at La Sône, a village on the river, and then turn back somehow, envisioning working our way home along the small roads near the river. In the back of my mind though was that I might continue on up toward the pass on my own, taking my time and stopping often with the camera as my excuse for a break. I was feeling fresh and reasonably strong again naturally enough, since we'd been mostly coasting for the last few miles before the bridge.

That didn't happen though. For one thing, La Sône held our attention more than I'd expected. There's not much life here now but it's an interesting place that reflects a more prosperous past. Ruined mills line the river, there's a glass-tiled chateau rising from the trees in one direction from the bridge, and the bell tower of a church that looks worth a look in the other.

For another thing, I think a tough game but I imagine as soon as I started climbing again I'd have misgivings about continuing on anyway. The clincher though was the phone, which I noticed had only a 25% charge when we left the hotel. I thought sure we'd had it charging overnight but I hadn't thought to verify until it was too late. So that's a concern obviously, but my plan was to call Rachael to check in at some point before it died to let her know the situation, since she could always get in touch through Susan's phone if she needed to reach us.

What hadn't occurred to me though was that my phone is also the only camera I brought along today, until suddenly it went black when I was trying to take a photo of an interesting derelict storefront. For sure I'm not going to go through the pain of that climb if I can't contact anyone if I have my own issue and I can't take any photos, so after Susan and I enjoy our slices of myrtille tart at the only bar in town we just head back. It's a shame that we didn't spend more time exploring the village though. This tourism blurb makes it sound like there was plenty to see that we didn't make our way to. Maybe in five years, when I'm back and needing an easy day to recover from my traditional climb up to Saint-Julien.

We parked our bikes at the far end of the bridge and both walked back to check out the riverside views.

The view upriver, with the 14th century castle on the left. We're just a few miles away from the bridge we can roused when we dropped down from Vijay a few days ago. I imagine if we rose up and away from the river a ways we'd find ourselves biking through walnut groves again.

The 11th century Romanesque church looks worth exploring also.

The pillar on the left is the support for a former suspension bridge.

In La Sône. This was the final shot before the camera died. As it was, the screen was so dark that I could barely make out the camera icons.

Susan took pity on me and lent her Lumix to me at a few spots on the ride back. Leeks?

I liked this row of evenly spaced trees.

This was the original plan. We stopped at the river though, skipping the whole upper loop.

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I didn't mention it at the top of the page, but the day began with Big News: the suitcase had arrived in Lyon and was out for delivery. Seeing is believing so I didn't want to say anything and jinx it, but it was a real thrill to enter the hotel and find the suitcase in the hall next to the elevator. Yippee!!

And as it turned out, it was maybe a bit of a blessing that the camera dies because it got me back to the hotel with enough energy to set at the packing job. I started in with Rachael's since I'll want mine for biking back to Belle Rivage for dinner again tonight. And I'm happy to report that packing her bike went pretty much flawlessly, as smoothly as used to be the case before my vision loss. I really have made a lot of progress since my maddening efforts when we arrived and I was still constantly dropping bolts and washers and losing them on the ground and needing Rachael to shine a flash light on spot ts so I could see well enough to screw then in.

Rachael returns not long after, and it cheers me up to hear what an excellent hike she had. We've had some disappointments with the routes I've come up with for her, with stretches that are too steep or rough to feel safe or rivers she can't cross. We nailed it today though, and she enjoyed maybe her best hike of the tour. Look.

Sound track: Jardin d'Hiver, by Stacey Kent

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Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 938 miles (1,510 km)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesIn no particular order...so glad your suitcase made it back. At least that is one less challenge for you on the homeward journey. You are both more than welcome to stay at our place whenever and for however long you would like to, and whether we are here or not. We are all on one level, in a quiet rural location, lots of space, and very open to having you here. Let us know, offline if you prefer, if there is a time when you would like to stay. Oh, you could also use our e car, or our e bikes if you wanted a trial run. Dodie
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2 weeks ago

Bruce LellmanTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThis is such a nice offer, Dodie. Very generous and kind of you and Steve.
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2 weeks ago

Bruce LellmanI'm so glad you got your suitcases in time. Now my blood pressure can return to normal.
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2 weeks ago

Ben ParkeWhere better to build back strength than the lovely flat bike paths of Zeeland in the Netherlands? I’m a nice day ride from Ghent and also from Bruges. Wishing you a safe flight home and a good surgery.
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2 weeks ago

Patrick O'HaraI wish you a good flight home. And, yes, it's about time we finally meet in person! I hope you get a surgery date quickly and that you get those knees in tip-top shape.
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2 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThat's such a kind offer, Dodie. I understand you've even got birds in your neighborhood. We have no idea what's happening with our lives now, but hopefully within a couple of weeks we'll know enough to make some tentative plans. It feels like a natural time to venture north of the border if something works out.
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2 weeks ago