Diary Day 10

DIARY - Sault to Sault + Mont Ventoux 2011
Day 10: CAHOR to SALVIAC (51km)

Sunny and hot becoming very hot

We have planned the route so that today is quite short and we can have a morning sightseeing in Cahor and then set off late morning to Salviac. So it’s a lazy start and leisurely breakfast. We leave the trike in the garage with panniers on and then explore the historic bridge and parts of the old town we did not reach yesterday. We also find quite a few more of the elusive small gardens; and explore les Halles for a bit of food shopping. Postcard writing at a town centre café, then back to the hotel to collect the trike and depart.

Our route follows the Lot through valley side slopes with vineyards to reach Luzech where we cross the river and double back for a while for a gentle pedal on the other bank of the Lot. We can see what we think is our road in the distance ahead, up in the clouds at the top of the gorge cliffs. We are correct and soon we are in a low gear and climbing the twisty road out of the gorge. It is well graded so we make steady progress climbing 300m to reach the Col de Crayssac. This is an unusual col in that it is not the top because we can see the road quite clearly climbing on from it. It is however the last point on the gorge cliffs with a view down to the Lot; and has two well-placed and shady picnic benches – time for lunch.

We continue on a post-lunch climb to Crayssac itself, which really is the high point of the day, then undulate through attractive scenery until dropping down to Catus with its large plan d’eau at Lac Vert. A stiff hairpin climb out of Catus brings us to the watershed from where the road goes up and down, but mostly down following the Ourajoux stream through upland meadows on our way to Salviac. A last minute route change before Salviac adds about 1km but avoids an unnecessary steep climb up and down a small tump.

We roll into Salviac and notice a couple staring at the trike. Nothing new about this, but as we get nearer they ask, “Is that a Greenspeed trike?”, Yes; “Are you Sheila and John?”, Yes. They are Carl and Julie, the American couple sharing our B&B who have just checked in and are strolling down to the campsite where the rally is based. They offer to show us the way to the B&B, although this involves a short walk for them and a spin around the town one-way system for us.

Sault to Sault + Mont Ventoux

TOUR DIARY

We meet Benit and Martine our hosts who greet us warmly and show us to our rooms. The whole house, including our room, is like a broccante shop with bits and pieces everywhere. There is a severe risk that if one was to put anything down it might be lost forever. Washed and changed, we walk around the town with Julie and Carl, who having been here an hour longer than us are experts, and then continue down to the campsite to meet those rally participants who have already arrived.

We are invited to dinner by Martine and Benit, along with Carl and Julie, and Bob and Mary together with Johanna who is Mary’s niece and is on her first ever trip outside the USA. Martine and Benit lay on a sumptuous spread.

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Diary Abbreviations

Not too many, but some thing come up so often in the course of our cycle touring that it is not worth writing them out in full each time:
PaR - Pain au raisin: Essential fuel to get through that mid-morning dip in energy
SdM&C - Sirop de Menthe and Cassis: No, not mixed, but Menthe for John who likes the lurid green colour and Cassis for Sheila. Not a new drink, but a great cold drink alternative to fizzy pop like Coca Cola and Orangina and only really finally appreciated by us on this tour as being for adults too, not just what you give the kids in a French café
OdT - Office de Tourism: Often our first port of call in a new town to acquire detailed street map, what’s on and if possible walking tour of historic sites
ATQs - Answering Trike Questions: If you choose to travel by tandem recumbent trike as well as being regarded as eccentric “les Anglais”, one has to answer an endless litany of regular questions – Is it comfortable? Did you make it yourself? How do you steer it? Why are there 3 gear levers? (answer: dual drive rear hub, if you are wondering) Is it heavy? How does it come apart? …etc.
We never got around to, but always meant to have a multi-language laminated sheet with all these FAQs on, which we could hang over the rear seat when the trike is parked and we are having a picnic lunch or similar. But then we would miss out on lots of interesting conversations and opportunities to expand our foreign language vocabulary of obscure bicycle parts.
S&W - Showers for us and washing of cycle kit: Normally (unless the need for a drink prevails) priority number one when checking into overnight accommodation. Includes either finding a washing line or engineering our own with the length of nylon cord carried for this purpose. Years of cycle touring experience have given us grade A skills and ingenuity at this.
TP - Technical Problem: Not something one wishes to encounter too often
TdF - Tour de France
GG Gertrude (aka Gertie) Greenspeed: We aren’t great ones for naming bicycles but if the ‘trike’ is referred to in an abbreviated form the alliteration of ‘Gertie Greenspeed’ seems appropriate

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DAYS 11 and 12 - Salviac Rally