June 15, 2025
To La Malene, France
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We gave up a rest day today to cut a big climbing day in two. Or so we thought. I cut a 4,000 foot climb/47 mile ride into two. Today's new plan was 2,200 feet of climbing in 27 miles. Instead it was barely 1,000 feet of climbing. I think all of the rock walls in the gorge confused the mapping program. We ended up with an easy recovery day after our hard work yesterday. That's not such a bad thing. Jacinto is already bemoaning the lack of effort. He's gone at the moment, walking the switchbacks above La Malene. It is 1,500 feet of climbing in 3 miles. He's considering adding that to his route tomorrow. Me? I will take the easy cruise along the river.
Shall we go back to the beginning of the day? Rain was the original wild card. When can we leave and have the least chance of getting wet, and the most chance of seeing the Gorges du Tarn? We had hoped to sleep in and have a relaxed departure. Instead, we were at breakfast when they opened. Breakfast has continued to be a good value. Eggs are generally served if we ask. I just read a review of new items at Starbucks. It said that their new croissant doesn't compare to those served in France. Here I am in France! I really should be eating croissants at every opportunity. I will work on that. After ten years of not eating wheat, I do eat it now, but have basically lost my interest in bread.
While we were eating breakfast at 8 AM, it suddenly started pouring. There's some sort of organized bicycle ride today. I tried looking it up on google. I found a gravel bike ride, but the bikes in the basement looked like road bikes to us. There were two competitors suited up. One had what I would describe as a wind jacket. The other man had nothing. They rode off in the drenching rain. We lingered over breakfast. Then the sun came out. That perked us right up. We decided to leave while we could. We had carried our items downstairs, and were just loading the bikes, when a big clap of thunder boomed, and it started to rain again. We moved the bikes under the convenient patio area, and decided to sit it out. That's an unexpected advantage of a short riding day. To entertain us, I insisted we make me a homemade front fender from a water bottle. I had carried along a flexible plastic cutting board that we zip tied under my seat to act as a rear fender. To add to our activities, my kickstand broke! That will be most inconvenient, with my long bike. We looked, there are three bicycle shops in Millau. None are open on Sunday. Plus, I think finding a shop that would carry a kickstand might be difficult.
It rained just long enough to get everything wet. We were finally out the door at 10 AM. We had plenty of time. Based on the route, we were anticipating a long, gradual climb. I felt strong all morning. I had to laugh at myself. Everyone knows that rivers take the easiest route through the mountains. We are following the river. It was the slightest of uphills all day. Just what the doctor ordered for easy recovery.
Jacinto lagged behind me all day taking photos. I think his photo per mile ratio was admirable. He said he had trouble riding for all of the photo taking. That will tell you how beautiful the area is, because Jacinto is most definitely not a stop and take photos kind of guy.
We arrived at 1:30. Tom came out and met us. He said they had a wedding last night that ran until 3 AM, he let the kitchen people go home. Tom suggested we eat lunch next door. Their patio was full and the waitress seemed uncertain about our getting lunch. Jacinto laughed at me when I typed into the translator app, "We are very hungry. We will eat anything". Happily I did not need to show that to her, she said we could order. I went with the daily special. It had a sausage with mashed potatoes, except they were very rubbery potatoes. I don't think adding cheese would make them rubbery. It was odd. The salads I've gotten in France have been excellent. Jacinto doesn't like them - he's strictly a ranch dressing kind of guy. The salads so far have had a vinegar based dressing. Something else we've noticed, that could be region specific, is that gizzards are frequently featured, as is duck. There hasn't been much chicken on the menu.
We went back to the room. I had a nap (see what Jacinto started?), and Jacinto watched a movie. We had leftovers to eat. I wanted to go down to the terrace, and enjoy the shaded area. Jacinto got a cold drink, I asked for a carafe of water. Soon a waiter came over and asked if I wanted a drink. Sure, how about a lemonade. I was hoping for fresh lemonade, but what I got was a fizzy bottled drink that tasted like Fresca. In another ten minutes, a different man asked if we would be visiting the restaurant. No - we ate.
In the meanwhile an enclosed red recumbent velomobile passed by! To make it even more unusual, it was pulling a camper trailer. I was so stunned, I didn't even think of getting a photo until it was too late. That's the one photo I've missed that I regret the most for the entire trip.
I thought we could sit on the terrace, enjoy the ambiance, and chat. Jacinto was very wiggly. He wanted to go check out the switch backs and see how tough they were, scouting a possible route for the morning. There is some sort of statue way up on the mountain. That is his goal. He's gone hiking up the mountain in flip flops. I am not surprised.
We've requested a 9 AM breakfast tomorrow. There's no hurry on getting out the door for an easy 20 miles along the river. I'm not at all tempted to ride the switch backs. There will be plenty of climbing later.
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1 month ago
Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 371 miles (597 km)
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1 month ago
1 month ago