Cycling in Annecy 2009

If you should ever require a same day passport service, you will be told that it will take 4 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours. There are no exceptions. So, with an 8.30am appointment, a 4 hour wait, an 8 mile drive to the airport and a 12.45pm last check in time, I knew that I was going to be cutting it extremely fine. By a huge stroke of luck, the official we saw at the passport office marked our collection time as 12.0pm - if it weren't for that, we would never have made it. With just 20 minutes to spare, we checked in and made our way through customs and onto our plane to Geneva.

Being with my daughter,(not to mention the wine and cider I downed in Weatherspoons), made the plane journey bearable. The sight of the Alps on the descent into Geneva, was a very welcome distraction. When the wonderful wall of warmth hit as we stepped off the plane, the holiday had officially started and within a couple of hours of landing, we were at our apartment and looking out onto this view: awesome!



The Cycling

The cycle path runs out from Annecy along the west side of the lake. From our base in St Jorioz, we were able to join up with the path and cycle 9km into Annecy. The path was fabulously smooth tarmac, with a dividing line painted down the centre. All kinds of cyclists were using it, slow families like us, racing roadies and everything in between. Despite the differences in speed, the route was shared very safely and responsibly. On our first ride out, we came to a point where a road crossed the cycle path - I told my daughter to stop and wait with me while the car drove through, but NO, the car waved us through - CYCLISTS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY!!! The next revelation came when I noticed the signs that said walkers must stay off the path and stick to the "gutters" and that dogs weren't allowed, even if they were on leads. Paradise or what??? The path itself was flat and perfect for family cycling and we did 3 rides over the week. My son was on a tag-a-long behind me, my youngest on a Hamax seat behind her dad, and my daughter was on her own bike. Considering that we only removed her stabilisers a few months ago, she did really well to finish the 18km round trip. We cycled for waffles in town, for lunch and a swim at the lake and again into Annecy for further explorations. It was a brilliant adventure, which we all loved and enjoyed together. The MTB was a good choice.

Most mornings I cycled into the centre of St Jorioz to pick up the days groceries. The boulangerie was stunning and was well used by the Popplewells. Each day we would get a couple of sticks of bread, croissants, 5 pain au chocolat (at least) and a selection of cakes for lunch. I put on about 6lb over the 7 days that I was there, but those calories were definitely worth it.


On one such trip to St Jorioz, I noticed a signpost - Col Leschaux, 11km. I ditched all my finely laid plans to do the time trial course and decided just to have a go at the local Col. I didn't want to be gone too long so a 22km round trip sounded just about right. As soon as I made the right turn, it was a steady gradient up with very little respite - nothing like the gradients of Ventoux, but on a mountain bike, it was ridiculously hard work. It was hot and I was blowing within about quarter of an hour. I started to wonder why the hell I'd decided to do it when I could have been sitting by the pool. Sweat was pouring off me and as I'd forgotten to pack water bottles, I only had a tiny kids bottle that held about 300mls of water. I had soon run dry and was just hoping to come across a small town or a little shop. I resisted the nagging urge to turn around and coast back home and was eventually rewarded with a couple of cold cans in a tiny village restaurant. What a boost! I was back on, my speed increased and soon up to the top of Col Leschaux! I don't know what was going on with me on the previous week but I'd also forgotten to pack helmets, so I took the descent back to St Jorioz very carefully. I was enjoying the scenery so much that it was great to ride it slow and take it all in - mountains definitely stir the soul.

We did drive the time trial course one morning and there were stacks of cyclists riding it on road bikes with all the gear. I enjoyed every moment by the pool with the children and I loved the family rides, but when I saw those cyclists, I definitely yearned to be out there with them. So, I resolved that next time I would take both bikes. The course was gorgeous and, if we had the right road, it had a nasty little climb in it - would have been great to ride it.

If there was a downside, it was the expense due to the poor Euro rate at the moment. Most nights we would spend around 90 Euro (~ £80) on food. An orangina cost just under 4 Euro. One of the bolts for the tag-a-long got lost in transit and I had to buy another from the local bike shop - they laughed at my French accent and then charged me 5 stinking Euro! Merde.

All in all, the week was fantastic. Lake Annecy is beautiful. There is so much to do there - most sports seemed to be catered for, the food is superb, the scenery breathtaking, the cycling couldn't be better. I could go on and on about it and would still come nowhere near to describing how great it is. We are already planning to go back next year for a longer stay - maybe fitting it around the Etape or the Marmotte? (or if dates allow, perhaps both - even though I know that is crazy)