An aspiring cyclist decides to push her limits as she rides part of the ‘Alps-to-Sea’ cycleway by the Rhône River.
My toxic trait is saying yes to things without thinking about them.
Most recently, I did it when a friend suggested a point-to-point cycle trip in France.
I’m in, I said. I didn’t give it any more thought until the week before departure – and then was shocked to find I was expected to ride 180km in three days!
You see, I’m a runner, not a cyclist. What about my bum? Also, what about the hills and the bags and not knowing one end of a chain from another?
I gritted my teeth, ordered a pair of cycling shorts and crossed my fingers…
An e-bike makes riding between the Ardèche and the Drôme easier
My adventure started in Valence in the Drôme department of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Valence has a mix of influences, with Lyon to the north, the Alps to the east and Provence to the south.
It’s well connected: just 2.5 hours from Paris and 50 minutes from Marseille, with TGV and local train stations in town.
I pulled on the padded shorts and walked like John Wayne out to meet my trusty steed. My rented e-bike was a sturdy beast, the saddle mercifully comfy, and two panniers big enough to take everything I owned had I not booked the carry-on service.
Day one was the first test: We had 60 km to cover. The first 10 km was a chance to get used to the terrain, which was mostly wide tarmac paths and bridges that crisscrossed the Rhône.
We parked up at the Gare de Soyons for lunch. It’s a former railway station that is now a restaurant and overnight stop for cyclists. The rooms are in outbuildings built in the style of train carriages, each with a mini garage and e-bike charging point.
As I tucked into my Toulouse sausage and ‘crique’, a local version of a potato rosti, a storm rolled in.
It was then I learnt my first lesson in point-to-point cycling: no matter how bad the weather, you still have to get yourself to the day’s end point, or else you have nowhere to stay.
We cycled the remaining 50 km in driving rain, our heads down and a tacit agreement to go as fast as possible.
It was invigorating and certainly set the pace for the trip, but after a couple of hours of raindrops splashing my cheeks, I was delighted to arrive at the Hôtel Medieval in Rochemaure.
It’s one of many on the ViaRhôna specialising in cyclist overnighters, with charging points for over ten e-bikes and – hallelujah! – a bath in my room. Perfect for a soak after a long afternoon getting – well – soaked.
Sunflowers, villages and golden cliffs: Rochemaure to Mornas is a ride through real France
The second day dawned dry and sunny. We left the village via a picturesque Himalayan-style bridge shrouded in early morning mist and continued south along the Rhône – with a 68 km cycle ride ahead of us.
When coffee time approached, we hung a left off the river to the nougat mecca of Montélimar and took a tour of the Arnaud Soubeyran museum and shop.
With sugar-fuelled resolve, we rejoined the river path and cycled 10 km to ancient Viviers, a popular destination on the luxury cruise boat route.
Viviers is notable for many reasons. It’s home to the smallest cathedral in France, which is still in use. It was the site of an earthquake in 2017 caused by nearby mining activity, so you can still see the scarring on some of the houses. And it’s the burial place of Johnny Halliday’s mum and something of a pilgrimage site for fans who can’t make the trip to the star’s actual grave in the Caribbean.
Viviers is also known as the ‘door to Provence’ – and the 40 km afternoon cycle bore testament to that. We had picturesque river bends, acres of sunflower fields and always a terracotta tinge to the buildings.
We parked up at Hotel Le Manoir in Mornas and hiked to a dizzying clifftop fortification for the golden hour before checking in. We then took the mercifully short distance to dinner in the hotel restaurant.
The world-famous village of Chateau-du-Pape is a perfect pit stop
On our final day of cycling, with 52 km to cover between Mornas to Avignon, we switched to turbo mode on our bikes and climbed a hill between vineyards to Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
I took a wine-tasting tour of eighth-generation organic winemakers Domaine de Beaurenard. Then I lunched at the Comptoir de la Mère Germaine, a more affordable offshoot of the nearby Michelin-starred La Mère Germaine.
In the afternoon, we cycled the last 20 km along the river to Avignon and our final hotel, Hôtel Le Magnan. I bid farewell to my bike and freshened up before wandering the ancient city streets to reflect on what I’d achieved.
The 180 km of cycling had provided a real break from normality and a chance to get into a whole new rhythm.
For biking beginners, the ViaRhôna is perfect as it’s almost flat (just 3 per cent elevation!), with 65 per cent of the way following the Rhône riverbank.
The whole 815 km route passes through beautiful villages, vineyards, lavender and olive fields and ends at the beach. There are also 40 Michelin-starred restaurants, three UNESCO cities and three national parks along the full cycle path.
While it takes two weeks to cycle the entire route, like me, you can do shorter sections. Even then, I loved that I could go for miles with just my own thoughts for company or catch up with a companion for a chat here and there.
I also loved the slow travel aspect and the fact I’d spotted flora I never would have seen from a car.
From chestnuts and almonds to acres of plum and kiwi orchards and from lavender and olive fields to the low-lying shrubs alongside the path, wafting thyme, rosemary and sariette, it had suddenly felt like summer again.
