Today’s ride was a great one, and we are hoping Rich Frasier had a great day too, because he led the way as we followed his GPS track. I sent many, many blessings his way throughout the day. We both loved the ride and it was so nice for the CN to have a day off navigating. Oh, and there was a tailwind!
Breakfast in our sweet little boutique hotel in Narbonne was excellent, and was table service. There was plenty left over to make sandwiches and they kindly provided bags to carry them in. We had decided after we had dinner last night that we would carry on to Carcassonne today after a visit to the Cathedral to see the inside.
Another massive Cathedral. It always amazes us that they could build these structures back in the day. This one, Cathedral Saint Just, was started in 1272
Kathleen ClassenDid you ever! A bit like the Sagrada Familia in the past decades I suppose. I hadn’t thought of it in that way. Reply to this comment 7 months ago
After the Cathedral we gathered the bikes and bags and went in search of a bike shop. There was only one open on a Monday in France, according to Google, and of course when we got there it was actually closed. It was too bad because it looked the perfect spot to get Keith’s derailleur adjusted. He hasn’t been able to use his lowest gears the last few days so it has been fortunate it has been mostly flat riding.
So then it was onto Rich’s track and what a great ride it was. We left Narbonne on a bike lane, and followed it through vineyards and farmland. We went through small villages, were sometimes on D roads, and finished on the Canal de Midi. It was a ten out of ten ride. We were helped throughout the day by a massive tailwind so we really were fortunate.
We had overcast skies today for the first time since the deluge in Tossa de Mar. Still so blissfully warm though.
We passed apple orchards, all that future strudel, oh my! There were picturesque bridges and we met lovely people and their dogs. When we were on the road the traffic was light to non existent. We were loving it.
Then came the Canal de Midi. It was lovely and cooler to be along the canal as the clouds had all disappeared so being in the shade was great, the canal was beautiful and the boats were entertaining. The surface however was less than stellar. I am much better at gravel than I used to be after my big splat, but I am still tense about it. I still call our third bike tour disaster non fiction, and the accident was caused by loose gravel. The canal side path surface certainly varied, sometimes it was actually okay, but a lot of it had loose gravel. Why? What a crazy thing to use on a bike route. It is like riding on marbles. Keith said we were on trend gravel riding, but I would have preferred to be less trendy. I cruised along repeating in my head ‘keep up your speed, relax your shoulders, trust the bike’. It worked. The surface certainly improved as we approached Carcassonne, and it was a small portion of the ride.
You need to stay in the track made by other cyclists.
I was thinking at the beginning of the canal that renting one of these would be fun. By the end I wasn’t so sure. There was a lot of lining up for locks. It could get tedious I suspect.
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles) Total: 564 km (350 miles)
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Janice BranhamWhat a beautiful ride you had today. Terrific pictures, especially all the vineyard scenes. I'll be interested to see where you go in Carcassonne. We'll be there Thursday, riding to Béziers today. Reply to this comment 7 months ago
Kathleen ClassenTo Janice BranhamWe will just miss each other. We are heading up to the Tarn. We leave here Wednesday morning. Yesterday’s ride really was amazing. Everything we love about bike touring. Reply to this comment 7 months ago
Carolyn van HoeveHi Kathleen and Keith! Have only just discovered this journal and delighted to find it. Catching up now and after reading this entry had to reply to you Kathleen about the gravel situation. Laughed out loud at your mantra as it's the same one I tell myself when I very reluctantly need to tackle a bit of gravel again. I know we had an exchange about my identical 'disaster non fiction'.
We spent September doing a tour from Frankfurt to Paris and had the best time. But 4 weeks doesn't seem long enough. Next year we hope to get to Spain and feeling inspired by your journal so far. I will catch up with it all in the next couple of days!! Reply to this comment 6 months ago
