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Day 17: Leisurely Cycle Touring in the River Tinée Valley
Today, down in the valley north of La Bonette, we swapped mountains for a valley.
An out and back excursion along part of the valley and gorge of the Tinée river. We cycled up the valley at a steady pace in the middle chainring with stops to admire the views and coming back again was an exceedingly satisfactory freewheel nearly all the way requiring very little pedalling or braking. We were on the main road to Nice. In fact because of the terrain we were on the only road. But the traffic was not too bad. A couple of large livestock lorries went by. Tomorrow is Transhumance day everywhere in this area and everyone is getting ready. There was a very strong hot wind blowing in from the Mediterranean all day. If it was not actually the Mistral it was doing a very good impression. It was on our backs assisting us up the valley and provided some gentle braking for us coming down. No energy bars by the roadside today. A proper café coffee stop in the charming village of Isola (well actually cold drinks) with tarte au pomme for Sheila and tarte au citron for John instead of tea cakes. Quite a lot of chat and questions about the trike. Picnic lunch on a shady bench overlooking the Tinée in St Sauveur comprised of pizza and giant pain au raisins. We had momentary thoughts of continuing on the road to Nice and the Mediterranean, which was only another 60km away (nearly all downhill), but the next day we had to turn back towards the high mountains and go col climbing again if we were to complete our Mercantour excursion and return to Barcelonnette. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
Day 18: Climbing Again - Col de Cayolle Tdf HC 2,326m
Our final day of cycling in the Alps. We had been to the Vercors, the Northern Alps, the Southern Alps and the Alps Maritime.
And today it was another sunny day in the French Alps and the final part of our Mercantour excursion. No lazy day to wind down though, we were going out in style (perhaps not much style, but a lot of push) with a final full-on big climb: TdF HC, the Col de la Cayolle tops out at 2,326m. Many of the mountain ingredients we had come to love and respect, including: Wide valleys, narrow sections of gorge, long balconies clinging to the hillside often with no protection between the road edge and oblivion and a sprinkling of tunnels. And in one place a Bailey Bridge over a chasm above the original collapsing bridge below. Needless to say plenty of hairpin bends. Road condition varied from good, to gravillon and/or bumpy. On one particularly bumpy section while descending at speed Sheila completely took off. Luckily she had the presence of mind to hang on with both hands and as we were going in a straight line at the time John could see her come back into view in the trike mirrors as she was caught again on her way down, with the seat bungee cord absorbing the impact. Also the usual bits of chausée deformé, from minor dips to bits of the roadside disappearing down the mountainside. The terrain progressed from high pasture with tinkling streams, to rocky heights and cliffs with long cascading waterfalls. A geologist’s paradise from moraine, through disintegrating and land slipping shale, to wildly folded sedimentary rock and hard rock cliffs. Possibly our best wildflower day ever – maybe because we were climbing the southern flank of the mountain. The lower pastures were awash with all colours and there was an endless mixture of flora in bloom along the roadside up to 1,900m. All colours of orchids and on the highest part the best banks of large gentians we had seen. A few marmot calls but the head (full body crossing road just below summit) count for the day was one only. The beginning of the climb was a fairly benign 4% to 5% (note how our steepness assessment has changed over two weeks !) but we knew we were in for several hours of unrelieved climbing and looking up at the mountains towering in front of us still had no exact idea where the road would go, so we stayed in the middle ring for a bit but took it at a steady pace. Good idea because lower gears and increased “grippyness” were soon the order of the day. Plenty of 8% climbing. About a third of the way up a small hamlet offered a restaurant / bar and Sheila suggested it was time to stop for ‘elevenses’. John put up a rather half-hearted suggestion of continuing on, but agreed within half a dozen further turns of the cranks. Cold drinks at a proper table and chairs. Needless to say later on we also made quite a few more roadside drinking and eating stops. Things got increasingly tough. Not sure about getting stronger as the holiday went on. John decided that he had peaked about 2 days earlier. This was no help when Sheila looked at the altitude on a km marker board and calculated we had 5km to go and 500m more to climb. A 10% average – but we know the misleading nature of averages and sure enough for every slight easing there was a 15% or more payback just around the next corner. Summit at last. Time for photos, a bit of self-congratulation, eating and drinking, and swapping a sweat drenched shirt for dry warm clothes and windproofs ready for the down. And a short time to enjoy the look on the faces of other cyclists and motorcyclists who could not really believe that two old pensioner farts like us had just cycled such a contraption as a recumbent tandem trike to the top of the Col de la Cayolle. Down and down and down, with the full panorama laid out, as well as the scary drops and corners not to be misjudged – And hooray nearly at the bottom a café right on the roadside on the apex of a hairpin bend. Cold drinks, omelettes and salad for a very late lunch. Finally, back in Barcelonnette and with Gertie Greenspeed all packed up in the car ready for our two-day drive back to Lymington we just had one last evening to relax in a town centre restaurant. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
Day 18: Back in Barcelonnette
Back in Barcelonnette with the trike all packed up in the car ready for our two-day drive back to Lymington. Just a final evening in town. Barcelonnette has a fascinating history. Many residents emigrated in 19th century to Mexico, some returning to build fine villas. The town now has a frontier town feel between France and Italy with its flavour spiced up by Mexican influences.
Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
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