Valence-Vienne-Lyon.

Trip dist: 110 kms. Trip time: 6 hrs, 1 min. Tot dist: 3000 kms.

Celebrations III.

Today's ride was much, much better than yesterday, almost perfect, in fact. The headwinds subsided and all throughout the day I had some very abundant clouds to keep me company and, at moments, a very refreshing droplet or two of rain. The ride was quite pretty, too, all along the Côte du Rhône (at the banks of the river), which is known for its wines, and which summoned up a few cherished memories of hikes along the vineyards of California.

I crossed the threshold of Lyon, too, at exactly the 3000th kilometer mark, after exactly 6 hours of riding (well, plus 41 seconds, but let's leave it at 6 hours, shall we?), at which point I turned off the bike computer, so as to not destroy the poetry (there were still approx 3 kms to city center, you see). The extra minute on the count? I simply blame it on a set of 2 or 3 malevolent traffic lights at the outskirts of the city, which constrained me to slow down a bit to end up adding 41 seconds (rounds up to 1 minute, above) of travel time. But who notices, right?

Lyon is such a beautiful city, a bit reminiscent of Rome or Trento, or even Boston, with the emerald waters of the Rhône, its 18th century architecture, its four universities, and ultra-modern looking tram cars. I think I would not mind living here. Besides, how much cooler can you get, when you have not one, but two rivers, in your city?