I set out with a simple plan: climb up and drop into Yzeron via Saint-Laurent-de-Vaux, then link the small cols before heading back toward Lyon.

No snow for cross country so a little cycle ride to blow out the work cob webs.

After a failed outing yesterday. Every time we gained a little altitude leaving Lyon, we ran into blizzards of snow, but today the weather was clear, sunny, and cold. Very cold, with a breeze.

Lunch ride to cover a few kms before the vacation. It was actually a bit more climbing than I expected, around 700 meters.

My old morning or evening commute route. I was WFH so did this as a lunch ride as I couldn't be bothered to get up early. VAM of 825m/h for 30 minutes including a stop to give a lady directions.

Little afternoon ride before the TdF finish.

First longish ride of the year, over 2 hours anyway. I benefited from a tail wind, which was nice and took in some lakes on the ride back.

Bizarrely the motor race that blocked me last time I tried to ride the Signal de St Andre was on again this weekend. Luckily they were elsewhere on Friday but I was concerned I would be stopped again.

Some stats to illustrate how much slower I am than last yearCol de la Poya 44m15 (39m06 last year)Marie de la Combe 25m31s (22m34 last year)Over 10% down. VAM around 750m/h at the moment.

A bit of drone filming on the climb. VAM of 735m/h including a short stop was not bad. First time on this climb for 2024.