May 7, 2023
Sault - Carpentras
This is our last day with Susan. It's hard to believe our week together went by so quickly, too quickly.
Today wouldn't have been the perfect day for Mont Ventoux. It's not as sunny and mild, but overcast is still fine for our ride through the Gorges de la Nesque. We approach through a valley with farmland and vineyards, very pretty, but the ride through the Gorges is spectacular. We have a long descent and it is hard not to stop continually for just one more picture and then just one more. It's a 20-kilometer ride downhill and it has clouded over. Soon I have to put on all my layers to keep warm.
In Villes-sur-Auzon we stop for coffee and hot chocolate to warm up. The route as planned isn't very long and we discuss a detour on our way to Carpentras. Yesterday in Bédoin Janos forgot his vest and the cover for the battery on his bike. Susan suggests we include Bédoin on our route to see if we can find the lost items. It's Sunday and Janos is sure the bicycle shop won't be open, but Susan has a positive attitude and thinks it can't do any harm to give it a try. She is also hoping to find a Mont Ventoux jersey in Bédoin since Bédoin is the most popular town for starting on the Mont Ventoux ride. There should be many shops catering to the cycling crowd. Yesterday she generously let me have the last Mont Ventoux jersey in the store!
We reroute our devices and set out for Bédoin. Janos cycles on ahead and when we meet him in Bédoin he is all smiles. The bicycle store is open although it is Sunday and they have the battery cover that he left there. They don't have his vest, though. We don't find it in the restaurant where he ate, either. But the partial success is reward enough for the detour. And Susan finds a Mont Ventoux jersey she likes!
The ride to Carpentras affords us some more views of Mont Ventoux, we have some nice roads, and some busy ones as well.
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We find our way to our hotel and in the evening go out to a nearby Italian restaurant, Little Italy. Pizza on the menu and that's it, we are also the only guests. Not exactly a celabratory meal for our final day together but the setting isn't important. We have had a fantastic time together, add to that perfect weather and beautiful routes.
Before I go to bed I review the route for tomorrow and although it doesn't look too attractive it looks like the 50 kilomters will be okay. I find what appear to be dangerous bridges and wrong routings on highways, correct them and hope for the best.
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 296 km (184 miles)
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