Annemasse to Duingt: 57km, 607m ascent
It was not a promising start to the day. Leaving our hotel in Annemasse, we immediately encountered thick traffic on busy highways – presumably a lot of commuter traffic heading into Geneva. Negotiating the roads carefully, the traffic continued as we began the ascent that would take us some 500m higher before dropping down to Annecy. Fortunately, the traffic slowly eased, and we enjoyed a great ride as we neared the top, even stopping to admire the view, and to pose in front of Lac des Dronières, complete with water lilies.
On the descent, our route took us over the old Pont de la Caille suspension bridge that spans the gorge of the Usses river. It is a bridge we usually only see from a distance by car as we race past on the motorway taking us out of Geneva to the Alps. Our memories may be a bit vague, but we both recalled using this bridge in the “old days”, back when we went on skiing holidays in the late 1980’s!
By lunchtime we entered Annecy, cycling through the old town, crowded with tourists, but still one of our favourite towns in the region. We rewarded ourselves with a slap-up lunch at a restaurant in the old town, sitting on their terrace right beside one of the little rivers that pass through the town and feed Lac d’Annecy.
One bottle of wine and some lovely food later, we wobbled out of Annecy and joined the cycle trail that runs round the lake. We have cycled this trail several times: the first time was just a few months after I had broken my Achilles tendon and the trip was designed as some gentle rehab for my recovering leg. The most memorable cycle was when we foolishly decided to attempt the ride in February last year, and almost froze in the process! Today’s weather was much warmer and it was tempting to jump in the lake to cool off.
We reached Duingt, a little town on a bend in the lake, after a short cycle and will be staying here tonight. A post cycle snooze now seems more inviting than a swim in Lac d’Annecy!
