Having scratched didn’t mean the challenge stopped. Now it was time to find a way to get to Thonon where our bags were and people would be congregating for the finishers (and scratchers) drinks on Saturday night.

I had access to a major asset. Alex Armstrong is another member of the Turn Cycling gang. I first met him doing the 2 Volcano Sprint and was supposed to have done Via this summer which he did and completed despite temperatures across Spain in the mid forties! Messaging Alex led me to a great app called Rome2Rio which helped me look at travel options.

Darren and I packed up and headed down to the bus stop. The bus arrived and there was no problem at all in getting our bikes into the storage in the belly.

It was stunningly cheap as well, less than 5euros). We arrived in Gap with a considerable wait for your train to Grenoble so settled down in a nearby park, after a huge pizza, to doze and watch the boules players.

Kris made me feel a little guilty when we met him at a bar opposite the station as he rode there….

The train journey had superb views and the three of us chatted and laughed and swopped stories all the way to Grenoble.

In Grenoble station I liked the little ramps they have installed to make life easier for cyclists 🙂

Kris was stopping over in Grenoble but Darren and I had decided to push onto Annecy. Darren found a two bedroom Airbnb not far from the station. what we didn’t expect was the narrow passage off the street, only just wide enough for the bikes, and the mediaeval staircase to the second floor!

It made getting the bikes up to the apartment harder than ascending an alpine col!

We had arrived late but ordered a kebab through UberEats before crashing out.