Day 4 - Vaison-la-Romaine to Carpentras - Circling the Windy Mountain - Tandem Tour - May 2023 - CycleBlaze

May 27, 2023

Day 4 - Vaison-la-Romaine to Carpentras

Finishing in the sunshine

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As we sat down to our standard French breakfast, our hostess said “it’s going to be hot today”.  After yesterday’s frigid experience, that sounded pretty good to us!

We were on the road by 0945, sailing down the road into Vaison-la-Romaine on a coolish morning.  After clearing the town, we hung a left turn toward the town dump and started climbing on a one-lane road in impressively bad condition.  Schnooks did everything we asked of her, though, and we gradually worked our way up through a silent canyon into the sun of a hilltop vineyard.  

Starting up the hill
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Perfect cycling!
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This was amazing riding.  We didn’t encounter a single car - just three other lucky cyclists who passed us near the top of the climb.  All we heard was birdsong and the crunch of our wheels on the  asphalt/gravel/dirt road.

Wildflowers of Provence
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Bill ShaneyfeltLooks like blue grass-lily

https://www.wildflowersprovence.fr/plant/aphyllanthes-monspeliensis/
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10 months ago
Getting close to the top!
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Coming off the little col, we sailed down into Séguret, and then had a bit of cross-country before climbing a bit to circle the village of Sablet.  From there we had a wonderful flat run in the sun on deserted roads to the Via Vénaissia cycle path in Jonquières.

That’s Sablet out there
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Views of Les Dentelles as we sailed down the valley.
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Selfie on the cycle path.
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Jeanna & Kerry SmithNice selfie. You both look so happy - I think it's riding a tandem that does that :-)
Jeanna
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10 months ago

The cycle path was a bit of a challenge due to tandem-hostile gates at each road crossing.  But we kept our sense of humor and had a beautiful car-free ride into Carpentras.  

My Ventoux from the cycle path.
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Rails to trails…coming back into Carpentras.
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After navigating the quiet inner ring street of town, we found ourselves back in familiar territory.  Our car was right where we left it!  The perfect end to a perfect ride.  We packed up and headed off to our next adventure:  The Pentecost weekend tandem rally in St-Jean-du-Gard.

The fun never stops!  :)

Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 141 km (88 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonA lovely tour on the new tandem! Have fun at the tandem rally!
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10 months ago