It has been raining all week, on and off, so this was a last gasp to get out and do a bit of cycling. Didn't go far from home as I had to be back by 11am.

I wanted to try a longer tour of the Mont d'Or above Lyon returning to the Chemin du Tignot which I haven't ridden for a decade. It is as poorly surfaced as ever, well worse than that.

The heat wave finally broke with a return to cooler temperatures, so much so I had to wear an undervest and a cycling jacket in the morning.

A couple of minutes off my March 2022 time but it was probably colder 10C on the climb and 12C in the valley with drizzle. However a PR on the flat section, a phyrric victory :-).

Last year I was dissapointed to have climbed in 58 minutes. This year, almost the same time to the second and I'm quite pleased with a VAM of 784m.

La Tour des ChiensThe fortified house of Arvilliers, known as the "Tour des Chiens", stands at the foot of Mont Saint-Eynard in the Chartreuse region, at an altitude of 530 m.

Decided to take this nice little climb and loop back around via the Venon descent. 21m44 for the climb, a bit off the 20m03 of last year but not too bad as I'm a bit bushed with work at the moment.

Commute via St Mury this morning. Slightly less climbing but a bit longer. Climb was good. 3 minutes quicker than June and just 48s off my PR set last year.

Got up reasonably early to ride in to work via one of the valley cols.

Passo della Colma is 8.9 kilometers long for an elevation gain of 490 meters giving an average gradient of 5.1%. The climb starts near the historic town of Varallo, which is worth a detour.