One of the great rides from Geneva - 127 kms and about 1700 metres (5600 feet) of climb. This Tour de Vuache (Le Vuache is the mountain south west of Geneva) is on beautiful, quiet, hilly roads - it's a superb loop.

The 62nd Tour de Romandie started today. Romandie (Romandy) is the French region of Switzerland so the entire Tour is near me. Eric, Katy and I went to watch the prologue on the lake front of downtown Geneva.

Yes, the Dauphinée will climb Le Salève up the super steep route from Collonge-Sous-Salève. It is rated category one but features 4 kilometres averaging 12% - with a full kilometre averaging 13%. This is steep!

There is a Grande Randonnée (GR) hiking route along the top of La Vuache and someone had recently asked me if it was do-able by bike. Today - with Eric and Jason - the idea was to find out.

I spend a lot of time searching for climbs. But it's worth remembering how much fun relaxed, social rides can be with friends.

Col de la Faucille is one of the best know climbs in the Jura Mountains.

We almost had enough for a peleton today as Eric joined Martin, Barry, and I for the first time . Being Flemish, not surprisingly he's a very good cyclist.