Cyclo-hiking  LYON - LE PUY-EN-VELAY - PARIS

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Details of the terrain:

VIARHÔNA

From Lyon to Givors, the route takes pitiful paths, moreover the environment is very unpleasant. From Givors to Andancette an enchanting moment is located between Tupin-et-Semons and Condrieu with the superb Île-du-Beurre.

CONNECTION ANDANCETTE - ANNONAY

Our personalized connection through Thorrenc, Saint-Cyr and Davézieux allows you to climb to Annonay in peace by a road with almost zero traffic. Beautiful panoramic views of the Rhone valley.

VIA FLUVIA

The Via Fluvia connects the Rhône valley to the high lands of the Loire. This greenway is fully superb, natural, green and pleasant.

There is a quite small crazy portion located in Bourg-Argental: 19.4% average slope over 360 m!

The origin of this curiosity comes from the fact that to face this mini cliff, the railway ran through a loop consisting of a tunnel ("Tunnel de l'Homme") and a trench. So the slope was gradual. But the creators of the Via Fluvia ignored the old local route by replacing it with a direct path in the cliff with a set of hairpin bends. This while the tunnel is still in a state to be reused.

This kind of French economy is detrimental to families with children, because it’s either a huge effort, or turning away by a deviation (indicated on the spot)… deviation that passes by the nearest road… which is in heavy traffic! We passed through the cliff at 19.4%… hard!

A second concern is located further to the "Col du Tracol". Once again, the old railway track used a tunnel. Tunnel also in capacity to be reused. But unfortunately it remains closed. In the region, there is a fierce opposition from environmentalists. Which would invoke the protection of the bats that hibernate there. In other regions, this kind of situation is rationally and intelligently resolved by closing such a tunnel during the winter. There are therefore two possible hypotheses: either the local ecologists are even less intelligent and more ideologues than elsewhere, or the political decision-makers/investors take advantage of this opposition to make savings as they do in Bourg-Argental. Still, here the danger is for all cyclists: the route is sent directly on the heavy traffic road (with many trucks). Well done, the environmentalists and the politicians... they are crazy.

The descent of the pass towards Dunières is also very beautiful. The only downside is that we suffer from many portions on land with strong crevices and gullies generated by rain runoff (still French-style savings).

CONNECTION LAVOÛTE-SUR-LOIRE - SAINT-ARCONS-D'ALLIER

After moving from the Rhône to the Loire, we are now switching to the Allier.

The official connection between Lavoûte-sur-Loire and Le-Puy-en-Velay goes through the D103. It is a portion of the cycle route titled Vivez la Loire Sauvage. It is a high-traffic road with a narrow cycle lane (line of paint thrown on the ground). The best solution is to leave the Via Fluvia between Beaulieu and Lavoûte-sur-Loire, shortly before Les-Longes; and to go through Malrevers, Fay-la-Triouleyre and Plaisance.

Le Puy-en-Velay is amazing and impressive with:

• the Cathedral Notre-Dame du Puy in which one accesses right in the middle of its Choir by the endless staircase that extends the very steep street.
• the Statue of Our Lady, immense and majestic, perched on its rocky dome.
• the Saint-Michel Chapel on its peak.

From Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Arcons-d'Allier we have zigzagged a bit to avoid on one hand the roads with too much traffic and to minimize the accumulation of elevation (high point at 1 100 m near Beyssac).

In the very long descent (15 km) to Saint-Arcons-d'Allier via Siaugues-Saint-Romain the distant panoramic views are fantastic.

VIA ALLIER

The route of Via Allier did not seduce us with too many roads that were too busy and moderately pleasant. But we were able to admire in passing the magnificent Saint-Julien de Brioude Basilica, the Saint-Austremoine Abbey of Issoire, the magnificent buildings of Vichy.

We turned uselessly towards Clermont-Ferrand, because the visit was completely obstructed by the generalized works of the city center.

CANAL DU BERRY, CANAL DE BRIARE and CANAL DU LOING

The Berry canal is pleasant from Montluçon to Saint-Amand-Montrond, then from Saint-Just to Bourges. This last section just opened in the summer of 2025.

The very short Briare canal is very natural and includes at its ends the impressive works of the Pont-Canal on the Loire at its beginning in Briare and its historic 7 locks at, the rightly named, Rogny-les-7-écluses.

The Loing canal has too many sections with backlated coatings.

THE SEINE

The Seine is often enchanting between Saint-Mammès and Corbeil-Essonnes. Then, until Juvisiy-sur-Orge, the route is completely erratic, even catastrophic, with very many paths blocked without proposed deviations.

The crossing of the leisure island of Port-aux-Cerises near Draveil between Juvisy and Vigneux-sur-Seine is very pleasant.

The penetration in Paris is not friendly, but functional and secure.

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