Peyre to Plaisance

June 14, 2023

Today was our last ride at Cycling Magnolias so we made it a very special one. Again with the help of our amazing host Claudia we drove to the village of Peyre and rode back to Plaisance. It was 82 km with 1000m/3200’ of climbing. This was the longest and hardest ride that D&L have ever done. It was supposed to rain but it didn’t however we rode all day into a pretty good head wind. Not that much on an issue on an e-bike but the sound in your ears for 5 hours is tiring unto itself. The wind was strong enough that even on a 2% downhill grade you had to pedal.

Peyre is another ancient village on the France Most Beautiful Villages list. It is well known for having had Troglodytes (ancient cave dwellers) living there over the centuries. Once toured the village we set off on our ride through Tarn gorge. It was a beautiful ride, one that I have done before in the reverse direction on another 2 week cycle tour in France called the Gorgeous Gorges. We flooded the river most of the way crossing back and forth several times until we headed back up over a hill and down into Plaisance. We were all on e-bikes today but it still was not an easy ride. We weren’t sure how well the batteries would hold out so we managed our effort and battery use until the last climb. We all made it with 2 or 3 bars to spare.

We are off to Avignon tomorrow and then Lyon on Sat where I meet up with Patti. D&L fly home on Sat.