Day 3 Xonrupt to Ferney-Voltaire

A day of interesting villages and great riding, especially along the valley/gorge of the Doub River. Up at 6.30, pack, then wait.



The owner had convinced me to buy breakfast, but he didn't show up till 8.30, by which time I was not waiting for breakfast. So it was off to my first Tour Col,



and coffee at the Col de La Schlucht,











then on to the Col De Platzerwasel and along a high plateau to the Col de Grand Ballon at 1380 m. Lovely riding all the way, and hardly another
vehicle on the road except for bikes and cyclists. At the top of the mountain I was down to 40 km of fuel, and was getting worried, as I hadn't seen an open station since Xonrupt. So used the GPS to see where fuel might be, and there are 20 sites within 20 km of me. Not like Oz.

About here I discovered that the GPS has an issue with the bike's power, delivered from the 12v outlet via a USB converter. If bike power is applied while the GPS is running, it hangs. When this happened, I had to disconnect the 12v and wait for the GPS battery to go flat (an hour or two). After the GPS froze, I considered abandoning the planned complex route and just following motorways to F-V, but decided to persevere using the iPad GPS maps for a while. When the GPS came good it led me down some great riding roads, including many that I hadn't chosen. Came across an Interesting solution to the tearing of tarmac on hairpin bends - cobblestones. Must be hell on a pushie if it's wet.



The valley of the Doub River is carved through limestone (Gorges du Doub), so it's steep sided and also sinuous. The road-makers had a great time here; wide sweeping bends overhung by vertical limestone faces. Couldn't pull off to photograph the best parts, but here's a diminished sample.



Went through numerous French villages, all interesting and different.








This is Sondermere, at the foot of the Petit Ballon, which I didn't ride. I was
heading for another village called Sainte-Claude, which is at the bottom of a Tour climb up to Station des Rousses, the last bit of Day 7 of the 2010 Tour. The swinging run down the long deep valley was a joy,



But - big surprise. Sainte-Claude is like Monaco transplanted into a French valley.









After that, the climb out was fun








The 3-day Tour de Jura started this day, but hadn't reached Station Des Rousses yet.


There's a huge ridge to the west of Geneva. I was coming down it, and this is taken part-way down. Geneva is at centre-right.

The F1 hotel was quickly found, despite 7 PM traffic. Interesting barebones design, and it all seems to work - it's certainly popular. 380 km today. Too late for normal shopping, too late for fuel; early bed.

Location:Ferney-Voltaire, France