Our original route plan was to spend two nights in Bayonne and complete a day ride on the second day out the coast and see Biarritz. However as the weather forecast has been so favourable, we decided to head toward the mountains instead and leave the coast of France for the last leg of the tour. Here's hoping for a never ending summer!
As we wanted an early start for our ride to Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry we arranged to have breakfast at the hotel. We arrived at the breakfast room just after 8 am when the doors opened for guests. The room was very nicely furnished, like a living room with furniture on one side and small tables with chairs on the other half. Breakfast was very continental - brewed coffee, a basket of bread, orange juice, corn flakes and yogurt. A good start to our day but these relatively minimal breakfasts are not inexpensive at 8 euros (12 cad) each, just very convenient sometimes.
We gathered our things from our room and joined the other bike owners on the ground level to untangle our bikes. An interesting experience with no common language! It was easy to find our way out of the old city to a cycle path along the La Nive river. La Nive is a tributary that empties into the L`Dour at Bayonne. The path was well used by walkers, joggers and cyclists. People are very friendly and greet everyone with a cheery "bonjour" as they pass. Even joggers with headphones on, gasping for air, will provide a greeting. Really nice.
Highschool students having early morning rowing lessons, life jackets not required.
After 20 kilometres of very serene riding we stopped in the town of Ustaritz for a coffee break. Leaving Ustaritz we were in for a real shock when we found ourselves face to face with the busy D932 highway. We stopped and checked for options but could not find anything and hoped the unpleasantness would be over quickly. It was a major road but at least it had a decent shoulder. In the end, we only had to ride it for about 4 kms until our turn off appeared and we quickly turned onto the much quieter D410. It was still a two lane highway but had much less traffic. Our next turn off took us back to the preferred country roads and soon we had a totally unexpected highlight of the day.
The D410 was a welcome relief after the very busy and fast D928.
Reaching the the small rural village of Itxassou we found our surprise in Pas de Roland, a narrow 3km easy cycling road bordering the Nive River. It was a wonderful place to see, full of beautiful landscapes of the small gorge. Below are a number of pictures of the route.
Patrick O'HaraOh my....Scott and Rachel Anderson inspired us to ride this road in one of their tomes of journals; and now you guys! Thanks for the memory! Reply to this comment 7 months ago
Steve Miller/GrampiesThere will be lambs in about 4-5 months. The rams had blue dye on their chests and when they mate the ewes are marked on their rumps. The colour is changed regularly, so the farmer knows who was bred when. Reply to this comment 7 months ago
We stayed off major roads and followed the Nive River along a road that had a number of short, very steep - stand on your pedals sections. Part way, we stopped at the village of Bidarray for a much needed picnic lunch. We were now only 18 km from our destination but still needed to gain some elevation. We left town over the historic Noblia Bridge and rejoined the dreaded D918 highway. It was a larger road but had not nearly the same amount of traffic as our D928 experience earlier and it was a just a quick 3 or 4 kms before we turned off onto a quieter road to Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry.
Sitting on a rock wall we cut up some cheese and bread to eat.
The Noblia Bridge. The tale is told that this bridge was built in just one night by the Laminak (small elves from Basque mythology). They crossed the bridge on foot to get to the other bank.
Scott AndersonI knew it! I was pretty sure I remembered riding this road nine years ago, but now I’m certain: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/girona2014/saint-jean-de-luz/#3263_1930262_803vo9_image Reply to this comment 7 months ago
Scott FenwickTo Scott AndersonIt looks like you pretty much saw it the same way we did nine years later. It was a great ride. A blog sure helps the recall! Reply to this comment 7 months ago
Today, the route planner continued to add more vertical to our day in preparation for the push over the top. It was likely our best ride on the tour so far! We stayed at the far end of Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry in a nice hotel. The town was small and there were few restaurants open, so after a walk through the village we returned to the restaurant in our hotel for dinner.
Scott FenwickTo Rachael AndersonThank you. It was a really great day and now I have seen that you and Scott did a similar ride in reverse 9 years ago. I read your blog from that day. Very nice but 72 Kim’s is never a short day for us! Reply to this comment 7 months ago
