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.

Geraldine woke at 6.30; we’d planned to get up an hour earlier. After a cool shower we were on our way at 7.15. Not a moment too soon. It was already warm and humid.

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.