Tandem cycling in France ~ Page 2
by Rick Rinestine  03/19/08

We landed in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, August 5th , with our tandem packed in a ProBike softcase (no charge on British Airways).  Our hotel was in Ferney-Voltaire, France, and a short five minutes away from the airport.  Sunday was when most of the group arrived, we spent the day rebuilding our bikes and setting up for a short shakedown ride on Monday, before taking off for the French Alps on Tuesday.  

One major disappointment was the lack of tandems (on a tandem tour)!  There were originally four tandem teams registered, two backed out due to illness, and the third team showed up on singles, (they were friends with one of the other tandem teams and decided at the last moment to ride singles instead)!  Ugh!  That left us and the tour guides on tandems, theirs was really fast, especially with two West Coast racers on board.  

The first half of the tour was spent climbing up to cols, (mountain passes), usually around 1100 meters high, with varying grades, and lots of switchbacks.  The roads were good to excellent, traffic was light to non-existent, and scenery…drop dead gorgeous!  We cycled through small canyons, steep rock gorges, along cliff faces with sheer drops and no guardrails, high meadows, and cool forests, something different around every corner!  We visited places like Talloires, on Lake Annecy, a very touristy area, with great views, parapenting, boules, and canals through town.  We stayed in small villages such as Champagneux and climbed almost straight up to reach Rencurel, hidden in an alpine meadow, near Grenoble. 

The French tend to take driving to a new level, they drive small cars, really fast, and fairly well and treat cyclist like they belong on the road.  Drivers were always courteous, usually friendly, and approved of our choice of transportation.  Roundabouts were great fun, stop signs were very few, and there was almost always a special bike lane in high traffic areas or short cuts through town.   

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Last Updated 03/19/08