On 21-25 June 2012 55 riders embarked on a 310 km charity ride around the Burgundy wine growing area in France.
This year’s trip was given the rather fractured French title of ‘Burgundy Premier Crew’, a reference to the fact that we would be cycling through some of the most famous and most expensive wine growing areas of France such as Montrachet, Mersault and Vosne Romanee, the Côte de Nuits' brightest star, which produces the finest and most expensive Pinot Noir wines in the world.
The route
The ride was broken down into 4 legs / three and a half days, commencing in Vougeot, 10 miles south of Dijon, late on Thursday afternoon and ending in Lyon on Sunday.
We cycled via Nuits Saint Georges along the Route des Grands Crus to Beaune. From there we passed through more wonderful wine country along the ‘Voie des Vignes’, stopping at Puligny Montrachet before continuing on to Seurre. We rode along cycle route Euro Velo 6 for part of the day then continued through Verdun, along the SaonRiver to Chalon sur Saone.
Saturday continued along the Voie Verte, following an old railway track via Buxy, Cormatin and Cluny with the highlight of the day cycling through the longest cycle tunnel in Europe, the Tunnel du Bois Clair on route to Macon. We even managed to stop for an official wine tasting at a lovely Cave outside Macon. Sunday, our final day took us mainly along the river tow paths of the Saone River via Thoissey, Trevoux and Neuville-sur-Saone ending up in Lyon, outside the church of Sainte Blandine for a celebratory glass of bubbly and group photo.
The scenery was stunning; the Saone remarkably uncommercialised, wide and slow flowing; the vineyards were perfect, as you would expect from such famous tipples! We cycled through some crazy weather, everything from a massive downpour complete with numerous lightning strikes and hail to extreme heat and humidity which resulted in many lobster coloured exposed bits of flesh amongst the group!!
Fundraising
This year’s target was £40,000 and amazingly, given the current economic climate, this target was well and truly smashed with an amazing total of £58,512 raised!!!
