Morez: The Lost Domestiques

July 24, 2017

We had breakfast at the hotel and headed out under an overcast sky threatening rain! Rain? Not since I biked into Paris had I seen rain! But as I said, it was only threatening, not happening . . . yet. Although it looked like we had some the night before. It was also a bit cooler than what we had been experiencing, so I went ahead and donned a long-sleeved base-layer-type shirt and my rain jacket on top of that. I also mounted my helmet light system (head and tail lights) . . . just in case. Good planning because I would use it later, all of it!

Today's ride to Morez.

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I lingered a bit on the way out of town, so Jerry and Happy got ahead of me. I was distracted by the bicycle motifs decorating a fence line. Strange in a sense but also very cool. I wondered, "What motivated this? The love of sport?"

Bikes decorating a fence. Seen when leaving Champagnole.

But I had other things on my mind as well as we reversed yesterday's entry into town and headed back the way we had come late yesterday afternoon. But not too far back, as we would turn left and south in about two miles to start our climb into the Juras.

But shortly before the turn, I realized I had made a fatal error in my morning's planning. I had little or no water in my bottles! This happens to me sometimes when we store our bikes out of sight in a shed. So I started looking for a place to stop along the road to Ney, hoping to see an open store or cafe. Nada! I even went past our turn hoping to find something and was fortunate to come across a work yard for a local farm. They had running water and waved me in once they saw I was not up to mischief! Lucky me, as I knew this would be a harder task once in the mountains.

So we backtracked to our turn and started down, and eventually up, the road to Mont-sur-Monnet . . . and beyond. If we stayed on this road, we would recover our course in about ten miles near the village of Saffloz. Our first switchback was at MP 4.0 . . .

Our first climb of the day and our first switchback, less than 10 miles into the ride!

At the top it leveled off nicely but was still headed up somewhat. It looked like rain would hit us at any moment, but it held off. Still, we were prepared . . . with rain jackets and lights!

More bicycles on entering Mont-sur-Monnet, our first town after the climb! What was this about?

And another on leaving town! They must love cycling here!

And then at the Marie in the next town, Saffloz! I really liked this one, as it had a wine bottle where the water bottle should be!

Of all the bicycle motifs, the one in Saffloz was my favorite. Shortly afterward, we were back on our "planned" course and headed up (of course) to Le Frasnois.

Another climb after Saffloz. This time to Le Frasnois and our first big mountain valley.

And on the way, our first mountain lake, Lac du Vernois.

We stopped for lunch at Logis Auberge du Hérisson and then paid a visit to Les Cascades du Hérisson.

So that was the easy part! We still had more climbing to do, and as we went down the valley, I knew the mountains we were admiring to our left would need to be crossed, so as I cycled, I looked ahead for the inevitable pass that would be our passage through (and over) the mountain peaks. The left turn at MP 19 was a welcome relief off of the main valley road we were on, but it also meant the start of the serious part of today's ride. But it seemed we, the "Lost Domestiques," were following good company. We successfully planned to avoid them but were honored to follow in their path! The path of Le Tour!

So after a brief respite, more hill climbing. We were definitely following the tour!

And finally, the top, Col de la Joux, elevation 1035 meters.

How the peloton made it up these narrow roads from Champagnole I cannot imagine, but make it they did. The only traffic I had to contend with was a truck coming down the hill in the opposite direction. I deferred and let him pass, as there wasn't room for the both of us! I felt strong on this climb and, but for the truck, kept up a good pace. Shortly after the truck, I topped off and took the obligatory picture, sans the boys (and me) since I had arrived well ahead of them.

And good for me, as I was soon feeling the rain. Just a bit at first, but then it really opened up . . . as in deluge. I have always debated whether it is better to climb or descend in a heavy rain. Both of my Alps descents were in heavy rains, so I can add this one to the list. I actually enjoy climbing more than descending, so I probably favor the nicer weather going up! So that said, I descended in the deluge, and it really was a heavy downpour, such that I was looking for shelter, which ended up being close to someone's house!

Then the skies opened up, and the descent was in a downpour! I took shelter at the bottom under a roof eave.

The rain was coming down straight on, so the short extension of the eave provided adequate shelter as I waited for Happy and Jerry. I wasn't sure what they would do in a downpour. I'm sure they were thinking, "Find shelter!" just as I had. But there was none (except trees), so I wasn't alone for long before they joined me. While I was waiting, either the husband or a friend drove up, noticed me, and had a conversation with a woman inside. In situations like this, I usually just wave, shrug my shoulders, and look at the sky. I think they may have offered me coffee or hot chocolate, but before that idea advanced, the boys had arrived and we were discussing our next steps.

Onward, of course! Heavy rain can't last for too long, and we still had about 13 miles to go. So at the first "let-up," I pushed off. I was wet already; I just needed to rest, warm up, and regroup with the boys. That done, I was ready to roll. But it was still raining, and the valley we were crossing was nice to ride through, but no photo ops until we were at our next major turn at the rim of Gorges de la Bienne.

I met up with the boys while waiting for the rain to abate, and then we headed across the next valley, stopping as we crested the Gorges de la Bienne.

From there it was an easy ride into Morez. Or should have been. Our original plan was to stay in Lézat, but we had not found lodging there and had settled on Morez, a much larger town and about five miles further and all downhill. So we altered the route a bit to stay on the main road, although our original route down near the river would have been very pleasant had the weather cooperated. Plus, the main road would save us time, and traffic did not look bad. So we maintained that course till MP 37, where we diverted to a lower road that would take us across a swale in the mountainside, put us on N6 for a short distance, and then take us on very minor roads down the mountainside to cross the Bienne River and into Morez.

Sounded easy enough, and it was, until the junction with N6, a busy highway that none of us looked forward to riding. Unfortunately for me, our road was rising to meet N6, which was descending on a curve away from us. Between watching for traffic and a gap I could use to join traffic, the wet pavement, and slippery pavement markings, I suddenly found myself on the pavement, sans bike.

I'd like to think I'm an experienced cyclist, so this was quite a shock to the system. I literally did not know what had happened, and it took what seemed like minutes to compose myself. Fortunately, I did not slide towards traffic. But I was pretty cut up and unnerved enough that I could not lead the way (which was the plan as chief navigator).

Once recomposed, we carried on, with Jerry leading. But our challenges were not over. Our plan was to follow a recommended route on Google Maps, but that turned out to be a dead end (or a footpath we had no luck in finding). So after reviewing options, we were back on N6, which was now a major arterial with no shoulders. But for only half a mile (although it felt longer) to our next option. It did not look promising either!

But it was that or stay on N6 through a hairpin curve. We chose the road less traveled (in spite of concerns by Jerry about gates and signs!). We hit one detour for road construction while coming through town, but it was not a big deal. We were staying at Hôtel de la Poste and seemed to have the place to ourselves. Fine with us . . . and the proprietor served us (Happy and me) a few beers while Jerry cleaned up. I needed the beer. I was a wounded soldier!

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 395 miles (636 km)

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