Diary Day 13

DIARY - Sault to Sault + Mont Ventoux 2011
Day 13: SALVIAC to VERS (50km)

Sunny and very hot

We had planned today as a short run of 50km to Vers, which we could do in the afternoon after taking part in all or some of the rally ride for today. Unfortunately their intended route to Domme is in exactly the opposite direction to our route on to Vers. Also the weather forecast for today is for blistering hot weather. So, we decide to cycle down to the campsite to say thanks and goodbye to everyone, then return to give our farewells to Martine, before heading off on our own before the day’s heat intensifies.

All good byes said and our food shopping done, we leave the silver salver with Martine to post home for us (having previously jettisoned the heavy wooden base) and donate our goody-bag to her. A final photo of Martine, Sheila and the trike and we set off alone again.

It is a rural ride including unclassified small lanes through Dégangac, Laverdantières and Bonnet. We encounter grass in the middle of the road, rough surfaces and for one rather exciting (but luckily short) spell going downhill on a newly gravelled road where there was so much loose gravel it was impossible to use the brakes. And the climbs are steep requiring our lowest gears. Fortunately there are enough shady spots on the way for us to pause for a drink and cool down.

At Gigouzac we find a shady bench in the small square ideal for a PaR stop. While there John explores on foot and finds a café hidden just around a corner so we adjourn there for some SdM&C.

Approaching Vers we opt to switch to a more main D road dropping down the valley of the river Vers, which speeds us along beside valley cliffs to reach the River Lot once more and into Vers itself. We pedal slowly through the town and find a picnic bench on which to set up our picnic lunch.

It is still early so we are not sure that we will be able to check into our hotel yet, but we return through town and ask. Success, we stow the trike in a garage across the road and are shown to our room overlooking the Vers river just before it joins the Lot. We have air-conditioning too, which is an unexpected and luxurious surprise. After some chocolate and S&W we take ourselves to the hotel swimming pool and spend a strenuous afternoon either in the pool or on a lounger and under a parasol beside it.

Sault to Sault + Mont Ventoux

TOUR DIARY

And some of the folks back home think we are hard cyclists. Just to complete the holiday spirit we punctuate the afternoon by indulging in a Café Liegeois ice cream break. All is rounded off by a very acceptable dinner (trout) in the hotel, before retiring to a cool bedroom.

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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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DAY 14 - Vers to Villefranche de Rouergue