Yes, I can enjoy flat routes too. 🙂
The ViaRhôna is an 850-kilometre bike route from Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) to the Mediterranean Sea that runs along the Rhône river. The official website is here.
The route is a combination of quiet roads, busier roads, and an ever increasing amount of voies-vertes (dedicated bike-only paths). Doreen and I decided to ride 60 kms there/back on a 30 kilometre stretch that I knew was primarily voie-verte – see map below. In mountain terms: the route was between Grand Colombier and Mont du Chat.
The cycling infrastructure here is truly brilliant. Even the stretches that apparently allowed cars felt like bike paths and were so quiet. The local governments have clearly invested in creating a superb biking experience for cyclists of any level. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
For anyone planning on visiting the region to watch the gigantic 2017 Tour de France mountain stage 9 as it climbs the steep side of Grand Colombier (& Col de la Biche), and then the even tougher west side of Mont du Chat — this route provides a super easy and family friendly way to link the climbs. Or a rest day ride option.
I’ll keep things simple and just post some more photos.
I know much of the ViaRhôna closer to Geneva. It’s also excellent cycling – if a touch hillier. 🙂
But for anyone wanting to Tour from Geneva to the Alps but with no interest in following the Route des Grandes Alpes, this route offers a much flatter but still very interesting alternative.
