October 26, 2019
Day 2 : Lagrasse to Caunes-Minervois
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I had a great breakfast in the hotel - it seemed like I was the only one there. While eating, I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen any hunters the day before! Maybe I had been overly cautious and things were going to work out OK. Ha.
I headed out and immediately got mixed into a large peloton of road cyclists from a local club, out for their Saturday morning ride. Fun for a while, but I couldn't keep up. Eventually I floated down to Ribaute, where I crossed the river to head for Camplong d'Aude, where I hoped to climb the Signal d'Alaric, a mountain that has 3 separate sites on it.
As I entered Camplong, I heard the ominous sounds I had been fearing: Howling hounds and the crack of shots. All in the direction I was heading. Hmm - ok. Time for plan B!
I turned east and rerouted to Fabrezan and Fontcouverte. My new destination was the Dolmen de Montbrun-des-Corbières. I was very proud of my newfound flexibility. And happy to be leaving the hunters behind.
The Dolmen de Montbrun-des-Corbières, if it indeed exists, is on top of a hilltop between the D6113 and Montbrun. The climb up was tough, but the top of the hill turned out to be a large, flat area crisscrossed with trails and dirt roads. I couldn't hear any guns...
This is what I don't like about dolmens. How can you tell the difference between a collapsed dolmen and a pile of rocks? It's possible I saw the dolmen - I looked at a lot of rocks up there. But I can't swear to it!
Ah well, more old stones await. Time to get moving. It was pretty up there, though.
I came down off the hilltop and found myself on gravel and almost-paved roads as I worked my way to the old railroad bridge near Puicheric. It was a beautiful fall day. A bit cold, but clear, with massive blue skies.
Time for a selfie!
I stopped on the bridge for a snack and noticed that my rear tire was flat. A few minutes of exertion and I was back in business, good to go with a new tube.
I rode to La Redorte and got lunch makings in a market. I ate on a park bench in the middle of town. It was a quiet Saturday and not much was happening in La Redorte.
I headed north to Azille and Pépieux en route to my next stop: The Morrel das Fadas. I think "das Fadas" means "the fairies" in Occitan.
There was no missing this one. The site has been improved and a small parking lot installed.
I climbed up to the hilltop where the dolmen sat and it was beautiful! Very well restored and it actually had a roof on part of the burial chamber.
Now THAT is definitely not a pile of rocks!
I was feeling pretty good about that one, although there wasn't much sport in it, to be honest. I headed off toward Felines-Minervois for my next stop, which was going to be a bit more difficult. I was headed for the Allée Couverte de Jappeloup.
How to explain the next adventure? It's complicated!
I left Felines-Minervois and climbed up a road into the vines. I was headed for an intersection that I had scoped out on the map that would lead me to a crossroads where I needed to make a right up the hill to the dolmen.
Well, the intersection was there, but what I hadn't seen was that the road I needed to get onto was 30 feet higher than the road I was on. A spindly path snaked up the hillside but there was no way I could get a bike up there.
I poked around and decided to walk back along the vines to see whether I could get up the right side of the hill. Then I came to a low stone wall. I heaved the bike over and repeated the process through another vineyard. I kept looking for a way through the undergrowth and trees up to the road above, but all I could find looked like cliffs.
I was about halfway through the second vineyard when I heard the crack of guns behind me. Uh-oh. I looked forward and the next rock wall was serious - about 4 feet tall. Yikes!
I leaned the bike on the wall, found a lower spot, and climbed up onto the wall. I walked back and grabbed the bike and with all my might, managed to pull it over into vineyard #3. It sounded like the guns were getting closer. I was starting to panic.
As I scrambled through the third vineyard, the panic was rising a bit. I was hoping not to meet the owner - that would be awkward. And I was definitely hoping not to meet the hunters. A guy with a gun wouldn’t expect to find a cyclist out here!
Like a bad suspense movie, I saw an opening in the bushes. I dived in and pushed the bike up a small hill. Branches were scraping my arms and legs, but it looked like a path someone had used before, so I kept pushing. Suddenly I popped out into the open! Amazingly I seemed to be on the road I needed to be on - just half a mile uphill from where I started searching.
After getting my heart rate back down, I nervously rode down the hill (kind of at right angles to the direction of the gunfire), but by then all of my interest in the dolmen had evaporated. All I wanted was to be out of range of the guns and somewhere safe. So I rode off the mountain past some startled dog-walkers and hurried into Caune-Minervois, where I had a reservation at the Hotel La Marberie.
Again, a nice lady at the reception desk ignored my disheveled appearance and found a safe place for my bike. I cleaned up and walked down the street to L'Argent Double, where I consumed a lovely pizza.
Then to sleep.
Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 130 km (81 miles)
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