Lourdes

On railway bridge

Just on side of road

Cycling from Lourdes to Pierrenefitte

From Richard -
On second thoughts yesterdays ride wasn't so easy but Rob was ordering R200 bottles of wine at the time on top of our normal bar bill and my brain was in shock at the time. I can always tell the distance travelled by Celia's behaviour. At 70km she begins with the odd swear word, at 80km she goes on about the selfishness of people with cartilage in both knees at 90km she starts awful threats to anyone in the general vicinity if a hotel doesn't appear round the next bend. I think I can safely say that,what with the head wind and slight incline, we covered the equivalent of 100km.

From Jill -
Yes it was tough and I am pleased Richard has conceded. We had all written our words of wisdom when the internet switched itself off so now we are writing for a second time. Anyway today was perfect again. It has been warm and sunny and beautiful and we have covered a respectable 40 odd km. (last time I said 45 but I was laughed at) We had 5 km to ride form Ades to Lourdes which was along a highway with trucks flying by but we made it and organised our train trips and had coffee and pastries and then booked into a very smart hotel. Dinner has arrived so I will post this and finish later.

OK it is later now so I will set the earlier scene. We arrived in Lourdes - .. then after coffee and pastries we left our paniers at the hotel and cycled along the cycle track up the valley to Pierrenefitte  (there is more to that name but only Richard seems to know) where Richard and Rob and Celia will stay after I leave and Richard and Rob will do their cols - the Tourmalet and L'Aubisque. There has been much discussion about whether this is going to be competitive or not. Richard says not but he is just interested to see how fast Rob will go. I think Rob will be happy to enter into any little competitions that are available.  So back to our ride - we stopped for a wonderful lunch of homemade bread and ham and cheese, enjoying the stunning views of the Pyrenees and then home again - for me the last ride of this trip. Tomorrow Rob and I will spend the night with Robin and Dianne just outside Foix and then I will meet Dinny and Bode in Aix en Provence.
It is now much later but we had a lovely evening with drinks outside in the late evening sun and then a respectable dinner of pork or Confit de Canard (standard meal in these parts). And I managed my 3rd or 4th Creme Brulee - Yum.
Let's see if I can manage some photos now.

Rob relaxing

There is a fly fisherman somewhere in the distance

Hotel in Lourdes

Ades (Lourdes)

This will be a short entry - not the best day cycling. It was grey and tough - the water in the gutter was definitely flowing fast in the opposite direction so it was a steady incline. Rob even had to give me a push up a couple of the hills. Richard says glibly over drinks tonight that he didn't find it a hard day! And the head wind! I am sure I could think of lots of other things, like the fact that we covered over 70km on a little French breakfast and a coffee and a mars bar and a few crackers for lunch. Anyway, here we are just about in the pyrenees - we can see them and they look beautiful but I am very happy that I am heading off to Aix en Provence and won't have to   do the cols. Maybe I can hand this around as we are sitting here with our drinks waiting for them to serve dinner.

From Rob - My arse is feeling a little raw but I think the main reason today was tough is we didn't eat well last night. I had a small bottle of red wine and a packet of Lays chips , not enough to keep the engine going for 70 odd k's - Jill had no excuse as she only had a coke ( no alcohol ). However this is absolutely a must ( everyone needs to add this experience to their Bucket List ). Looking forward to the weather clearing and the Pyrenees opening in front of us.  It's amazing when you have ridden all day and the standard of accommodation is totally irrelevant. Tonights shower was just fantastic.

Now Richard - 

Seven hours to do seventy km and people are whining about the tough day. Chris and Alec need to come along next time and show them what cycle touring is all about. Lets just hope there is a next time.

Richard's paragraph

Our mini tour de france is proceeding at great pace. The girls (middle aged women actually) are getting fitter. Jill passed  the 70 km mark still smiling yesterday. This might have something to do with the free wine at lunch which had her sloshing wine or water indiscriminately into her glass. Celia on the other hand slowly works her way to the front when there are 3km to go and sets such a pace that large gaps open up in the  peloton.  I think Rob must be itching to also come to the front and show what he can do but is still playing the good husband .Jill leaves us soon and then I am going to be in trouble. Luckily we are heading into the mountains and since Celia has no cartilage in her right knee she can't climb. It is no disgrace to be left behind by someone with international sportsmen in their family.
A final word on the pile up on the canal. This is not the first time that Jill has attacked children in Europe. In Lech she set off down the tobbogan run with loud cries of achtung in pursuit of 2 small boys who fled screaming in panic but they had no chance and were scooped up in an avalanche of tobogans  and deposited at the feet of their flabbergasted parents.

Robs entry from iphone

In a couple of days I may need to do entries from my iphone (scary ) so I'm just doing this to see if it works.

cazaubon - marciac

Overlooking coutryside along the way

                                             Chateau de Begue - where we stayed in Cazaubon

That was a great day of cycling! About 70km through beautiful French farmland, mainly corn, sunflowers, cattle, geese and all the farm smells mixed with a bit of rain and a lot of lavender. Lots of little villages with coffee and pains chocolat and not too many gruelling hills. We stopped in Plaisance (Kiwi Haka) for a 3 course lunch which we found included 2 caraffes of wine and the usual friendly service with no English. So we are never all that sure what we are going to get. There was an exception to the friendly service in Cazaubon when we tried to have dinner at the local chateau where we could see masses of tables set beautifully out on the country verandah (and no guests in sight),but the man in the penguin suit (looking very like Bazil Fawlty) told us he was sorry - no dinner for us as they had "Pas de produits"!! Since that was the only restaurant in town it left us a bit sad. But we found some pizzas at the local supermarket.

Anyway, back to today - we took all these little unmarked back roads, which almost caused a few problems. Firstly Celia found herself a couple of km down the wrong road without anyone following. Richard managed to catch her and we re-grouped, only to create another pile-up when Rob and Richard stopped to study the map again and Celia rode straight into them. Having your feet stuck in your pedals can be dangerous.

Since Rob has found he can't get the US Open he may add a bit.

From Rob -

What a great day , cycling into the unknown is remarkably relaxing. Saw the most beautiful castle flying a flag of some sort in isolated place. Could imagine German tanks rolling down some of these narrow streets during the second world war. Some of the looks we get from the locals are amusing but most are very friendly and will wave and greet you with a warm bonjour. Feeling a little guilty that I have not been in touch with office in Perth but had positive email from Esme that all is good so long may that last.

Pool overlooking countryside at chateau de begue in Cazaubon

(these photos have a mind of their own - I never know where they are going to enter themselves.)


 

 

Cazaubon (6th/7th Sept)

No photos today - yesterday's ride was too exhausting to stop for photos and today it is pouring with rain. Nerac was fantastic and I would have liked to stay another night but that was not the program. We headed off at about 9.30am after a great breakfast, but a bit apprehensive as there was a light drizzle. But the weather turned out fine, it was just the hills! We apparently took the flat way! We managed to squeeze a cup of coffee and a pastry out of a little cafe along the way and covered about 50km of hills before Celia had a flat tire in Gabarret. I was hoping that would mean we could stop there. But it was fixed in no time and we climbed the longest hill of all into Cazaubon and found this amazing place overlooking the countryside (Richard and Celia stayed here last time). Rob and Richard went and bought beers and cheese and baguettes which we took out to the huge pool. That all made me feel a lot better. And today luckily is a rest day.

Chatted to Catherine last night and John this morning on skype which was fun. John asked when we were due to leave Joburg! Catherine seemed a little more interested.

From Rob - Quick note - been a lazy morning lying in bed reading book and listening to the rain outside. Next 2 days are also looking wet but will need to push on regardless. Nice being able to give the backside a rest. Unfortunately we are not out of the hills yet ( good practice for the cols ahead ).

Richard's breakfast blog from Nerac

            (This photo arrived in wrong place again - it is dinner on river in Nerac)
What a lot of details have been left out. For instance we have had a bit of head winds so we send our big diesel engine to the front. This increases the speed from 17 km/ph (my speed) to 25 km/ph.This in turn causes much whining from the back markers, but we reach our destination by lunch time. The other omission was Jill's taking out of a 4 year old child causing a 3 bike pile up. I ended up on top of the pile and saw none of the causes so will let Jill explain.

From Jill - well the 4 year old chose to wander over to the wrong side of the road and for some reason didn't respond to "watch out, careful!" So I slammed on breaks and didn't take him out. But Celia saw what was happening so slammed on breaks behind me and Richard saw nothing so took Celia, me and the 4 year old out. The only real damage seemed to be my panier, so I now only have one. Luckily I have almost no luggage.


Anyway, bit rainy today it looks but we are off anyway over the hills I think. 

Had dinner under umbrellas bottom left.