Tag: France

Apart from not having a bike, I needed a day off to recover from the previous day’s events. Sue and I decided to hire bikes from the hotel and ride down to check out the town. It was market day and the place was alive. Sue bought some special goodies for Scott’s lunch and I bought something special to bring home (providing I can get it through customs). Not telling what it is, but there’s a clue in the video. The old town with the canal running through it is very picturesque and there were lots of holiday makers boating, cycling picnicking and generally enjoying themselves. Hope you enjoy the photos and video. Tomorrow we pack up again and head for the Alps.

On our first day in Lake Annecy, a ride to the ski station and restaurant on Mount Semnoz, 1,660 metres above and about 30 klms from Annecy was planned.  The ride up averaged about 7% gradient with pinches at 10%. The views of the Lake on our way up were stunning. But unfortunately our 13th day proved to be a bad omen for me. Pushing to catch up with the group after stopping to take photos, I rode too quickly into a tight downhill bend, locked my brakes and crashed off the road. Fortunately I landed on the grass verge and my only injuries were a couple of bruised ribs, a graze on my forehead and dented pride. My bike however was not so fortunate and with a snapped integrated seat-post (part of the carbon frame) and other damage, it’s a write off. Fortunately Hodgy was following in the car and was able to pick me up and stow my bike in the boot. I made it to the top a bit faster than I expected to. I’ve submitted an insurance claim, and hope to have something to ride when we get to the Alps in a couple of days. The rest of the group made it to the top and we all enjoyed a coffee (two for me to calm my nerves).

Requiem

Old cars and bikes have special memories. I’ll miss my mate.

Around midday we packed up our bikes again and headed off on the three and a half hour trip to Lake Annecy, located just two hours from Lyon and an hour away from Geneva in Switzerland. This is a real holiday mecca in France with unbelievable scenery. We are booked into the Hotel Beauregard, right on the Lake and about 4 klms from the town centre. Here are a few photos taken along the way as we passed through the city of Grenoble and about half a dozen toll gates (it’s expensive driving in France).

Hotel Beauregard

This really was a light ride – only 37 klms in 1 and a half hours, but Andrew did manage to lead us up the garden path and into the barley field before we found Venasque – again a lovely castled town built on the side of the mountain. As usual the scenery was amazing (and the coffee and croissants were pretty good too).

Today was meant to be a quiet day after the Mont Ventoux climb yesterday and although the climb was fairly gentle we rode 128 klms in 5 and a half hours. My Garmin said we climbed 1,540 meters in elevation and I burned 1,987 calories, with an average heart rate of 111 and average cadence of 66. Our course took us out of Carpentras and then up the Nesque River gorge to the small township of Sault. The scenery as we rode up the gorge was mind-blowing and we arrived at Sault when their weekly market was in full swing. After a coffee and a check of the market which took over the whole town, we rode on further past the lavender fields to the ancient town of Montbrun les Bains where we had a great lunch under the umbrellas. After lunch a further climb up an alternate route to Sault before heading back down the gorge at a fast pace. I hope the photos and videos give you an idea of just how amazing the scenery was today.

After breakfast on Monday we packed our bikes in the van, said goodbye to our hosts at the Hotel Beau Site in Argeles-Gazost and headed of on the 5 and a half our trip to Carperntras in the Provence region of France. Along the way, we stopped off at the medieval castle at Carcassonne and I’ve attached a few photos taken there. Nothing too exciting, but you might be interested.

Carcassonne Medieval Castle

Carpentras

Carpentras is a city of approximately 30,000 people located 23 kilometres from the larger city of Avignon. It has a warm climate (over 30 degrees celsius while we were there) and has thriving wine and citrus growing industries. It is also famous for its truffle market held every Friday morning in winter.

To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with the place, but the old town in the city center has quite a lot of character and the ancient french-built aqueduct is really impressive.

I’ve also included a few photos of the Sahara hotel which was very comfortable and convenient for our bike trips.

Our first day in Carpentras in the region of Provence saw us tackle what many say is the hardest of the classical Tour de france climbs – Mont Ventoux. Our leader, Andrew, said it would be the toughest climb that we will do and he wasn’t wrong. 21 kilometers of climbing to 1,912 meters elevation with an average gradient of 7.5% (but many sharper pinches), I found it tough going but made it to the top to get the prized photo under the sign. My Garmin tells me we did 90 klms that day in 5 hours riding time, so it wasn’t as long as the Col du Torbalaine day, but it was certainly a tougher climb. My average cadence was 59, average heart rate 115 and average speed 17.8 klms/hr.

Mont Ventoux has featured many times in the Tour de France, most recently last year when the Tour winner, Chris Froome, crashed into a camera motorbike which had been stopped by out of control spectators and was forced to run up the mountain with his bike until he could obtain a replacement bike. Fifty years ago, English cyclist Tom Simpson died ascending the mountain from a combination of heat exhaustion and drugs.

Not many photos today, but I hope the video will give you an idea of what the climb and descent was like.

Our last ride in the Pyrenees was to the Ski Station at Luz Ardiden which has been the finish for stages of the Tour de France on many occasions (the last in 2011). Statistics for the day recorded on my Garmin indicated I rode 65 klms in 3 and a half hours at an average of 19 klms per hour. My maximum speed on the downhill was 59 (it was quite dangerous with loose gravel). My average heart rate was 120 beats/min, average cadence 63, elevation 1710 metres calories burned 1455. Check out the video to see the amazing number of switchbacks toward the end of the climb. At the top we met up with a group of Spanish cyclists who had come from Barcelona for a weekend’s cycling. They had already climbed the Col du Tourmalet earlier that morning and then Luz Ardiden. The oldest was 76 and he had a heart pacemaker fitted. Amazing!

 I couldn’t help taking a few more photos around the town of Argeles-Gazost including one of the garden at the back of our hotel and a one of our presentation to Monsieur and Madame Taik-Colpi, who run the hotel themselves with the aid of a couple of domestic staff. (she is 85 and he a few years less).

As it was raining in the morning, most of us had a day off and checked out the Kemesse (Fair) in the town square.

St Savin

St Savin is a small village located just 23 kilometres from Argeles-Gazost at an elevation of about 580 metres. This was a lovely quiet ride through the local countryside and we even checked out a 15th century church before it was visited by a group of travelling pilgrims.

Lourdes

In the afternoon, Rob, Frank, Geoff and I decided to ride to Lourdes along the bitumen rail trail. Lourdes is a really interesting place. It is the largest Catholic pilgrimage destination in France and one of the most popular Catholic shrines in the world.  The small town of only 17,000 inhabitants receives more than 5 million pilgrims and tourists each year thanks to visions of the Virgin Mary reported by a young girl named Bernadette in 1858. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes incorporates 52 hectares of property and 22 places of worship, including a sacred grotto, two basilicas, and a variety of buildings for pilgrims and the sick. They have two services a day and we arrived after the morning service had ended.