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river rhone cycle route. mike wells. cicerone publishing paperback. 253pp illus. £14.95

river rhone cycle route: mike wells

it remains to be seen how difficult european travel will become when the prime minister decides whether we endure a hard brexit or a soft one, always assuming any of us knows precisely what either of those mean in the first place. however, such matters are more appropriate for discussion by kevin hague than by a political naif such as myself. i can recall reading in melody maker in those dim, dark days of yore about the trials and tribulations suffered by touring musicians with regard to the equipment stowed in the back of their battered white transit vans. european borders were apparently a great deal more strict about what went where before we became members of the european economic community.

that does not, however, lessen in any way, the superb opportunities for quality cycling through countries such as france and switzerland, the very practice of which concerns this excellent guide by mike wells. this, his fifth book for cicerone, takes the intrepid cyclist from the drama of the swiss alps all the way to the french mediterranean, ending at port st louis, but a mere stone's throw from marseille. commencing in furkapass, the route takes in lausanne, geneva, lyon and avignon before reaching the ocean, a trip which wells has thoughtfully broken into twenty stages averaging around 45km each. that seems to me to offer an ideal pace to take in some of the finest scenery on the continent.

river rhone cycle route: mike wells

while those with an unlimited amount of free time will already be drooling at the mouth in anticipation of pretty much three weeks of velocipedinal joy, it would be simplicity itself to pick and choose from amongst those twenty stages depending on your sphere of influence.

the route makes use of the rhone valley long-distance cycle route, one making copious use of traffic-free tracks and less-travelled country roads. it's just what we've always promised ourselves. in common with all cicerone guides, the actual cycling is presaged by a surprisingly comprehensive historical and geographical precis of that which you are about to cycle through. it is also well populated by a phalanx of maps that leads me to think that if you were to inadvertantly stray, it would be very hard to apportion any blame to mr wells. though it would be a tad naive to undertake any continental ride bereft of the local equivalent of an ordnance survey map, the convenient size of the guide makes it no hardship to fit the river rhone cycle route in a back pocket or under the clear window atop a handlebar bag for travel reassurance.

river rhone cycle route: mike wells

though testament is justly paid to the quality and fortitude of these compact and bijou volumes, it would ill behove any reviewer not to make comment on the photography peppered throughout their pages. in this case, they not only highlight many of the sights seen along the way, but might just prevent the taking of a wrong turn. additionally, there are boxed features pertaining to salient points of interest.

"Legend has it that Evian water was first discovered in 1789 when the Marquis of Lessert, while out walking, drank from the Ste Catherine spring on the land of a monsieur Cachat. Lessert was suffering from kidney and liver problems and it appeared the water improved his health."

while i cannot pretend that i am currently arranging for three weeks off work next summer to ride on a page by page basis (heck, i've scarcely heard of half of the places mentioned here), but a feature of well's writing is its compulsive nature, meaning that alps and warm, sandy beaches are now scribbled on my bucket list.

the river rhone cycle route

wednesday 26 october 2016

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