Cycling-Cycling-Cycling

Hi all... I know I've been completely out of touch for the duration of the cycling trip. I have been recording my thoughts each night in my travling log, so here you will get a day-by-day report on what I was up to...

Sunday, October 8, 2006
Arrived safely via Ryan Air in Carcassonne. Joe & his gf, Amandine picked me up - they are to be the guides this week. Weather is nice & sunny. Joe is English & Amandine is from the Languedoc area. Some info on Carcassonne: it is a fortified city & the largest fortress in Europe (it is quite amazing, actually); it was a medieval stronghold so there is a haunted house & lots of shops w/ souvenirs remeniscent of that period. The hotel we are staying at is right beside the walled fortress & is really nice. There are 4 people on the tour (not including Joe & Amandine) - all single women!!! Crazy! Apparently tomorrow is our longest cycling day of appx 70K.

Monday, October 9, 2006
Carcassonne to Lastours
Partly following the Canal du Midi - very pretty. The locks are similar to those in Ottawa. The weather was overcast & we had a bit of misty rain in the morning. Lastours had a very large Chateau consisting of 4 separate fortresses on a huge cliff which we climbed up - quite tricky even in mtb shoes. If it had been a clear day we would have seen the Pyranees from the top. It was not so we could only barely make out the outline of them. Lunch in Villeneuve-Minervois, then on to Caunes & climbed a pretty challenging hill. It was about 2x longer than Fortune Lake hill, winds about like FL does, and only slightly steeper grade. The others didn't do it - they toured an abbey while Joe & I climbed the hill. Joe taught me how to climb better out of the saddle so that I'm now flying up the short & steeps. :) The rest of them caught up to us in the minibus when we had about 3K left til the top. After that we cycled along a huge gorge of the river Cesse. There were some small rolling hills along there. I had a huge long nap back at the hotel before showering & going for dinner. Not feeling overly well - kind of congested. Cold or allergies? Not sure.
The others on the trip are as follows:

• Tricia - from London. Cycles to work on a regular basis - about 8 miles she said & does a little bit of group riding 1-2x/mo but it's a social ride she said (they spend more time at the pub than on the bike). That said though, she's a strong rider & great climber. this is her 4th or 5th cycling trip & second one with this particular company.
• Reg (short for Regina) - from Dublin. Never cycles; first cycling trip. She's holding her own on the bike though.
• Laura - from NYC. Never cycles & is the slowest in our group, however she gets along quite well I have to say.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Today we left our hotel in Murveil-les-Beziers and started our ride with a gentle, but long climb. Quite the way to wake up! Again another overcsst & not particularly warm day. Then rolling hills to Capestang where we stopped for coffee. Then we climbed up into a town called Quarante & joined the Canal du Midi again. The others took the tow path, while Joe & I took the roads until we joined them again a few km's later & then climbed another short hill to a settlement called Oppidum d'Enserune. Below there is a really cool area built in the Ro,an era to drain the valley below (got some good shots of it). As well in the distance we could see Bezier. Then cycled again along the canal until we got to a set of 9 locks in Bezier called les Ecluses de Foncerannes. Then some more cycling up & down, up & down hills through lots & lots of vineyards to reach our destination: a chateau in the middle of nowhere called Chateau St. Martin des Champs. They make their own wine there & there was tasting and what-not. Today's ride was really good. A lot of good climbs & I'm feeling really good about how strong I am. Of course I'm always ahead of the group, so it's good that Joe's printed directions are so good. I just go on ahead. Most of the time though, and particularly on the hills I cycle with Trish. The rolling hills here are really great hill training - you work & recover, work & recover. Quite nice. Wish the weather was warmer - been wearing my leggings & sleeves, light warm-up top over as well everyday. Trish & Reg are the most fun. Reg is super sweet & super clever. She notices & picks up on all kinds of cool stuff in the places we visit. Trish & I get along best on the bikes as I don't have to slow down too much to have her keep pace. Nice to have someone to chat with along the way.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Today it rained like crazy. Right now it's nearing midnight & we are several hours into a very major thunderstorm. Started out cycling in light rain this morning. About 2 hours in it started to come down in buckets. I was soaked to the bone & I had woken up feeling not 100% anyway. I am very congested & still can't figure out if it's allergies or a cold. Reg & I hopped in the minibus & the others continued on another 1.5 hours to lunch. Kudos to them, but no thanks! I had to ring out my socks & gloves. The place we are staying at tonight is ok, if not strange. My room is quite outdated - circa 1970. Baby-blue bathtub, matching toilet, bidet & sink. I had set up the fan I found in the closet to dry out my soaking wet clothes & during dinner the man (guy & his wife run the place) went into everyone's room & turned off any lights & in mine he unplugged the fan & actually put it away! Freaked me out when I got in there. Anyway, we stayed up late tonight & had fun chatting - I believe the others were quite drunk.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

I woke up today feeling absolutely miserable & the rain had not stopped. I opted to get a lift in the minibus to the Cirque des Navacelles & Reg joined me. The others actually rode in the pouring rain. The main thing I missed out on today by not cycling which I'm actually very , very bummed about is the Col des Vents (which we have aptly renamed the Col de la Pluie). It is a steady, gradual 8K climb through hairpins up to the top of the Cirque. I really couldn't possibly do it though with the congestion & top it off with pouring rain - I am on vacation after all! The only one who actually did the whole climb was Tricia - Laura & Amandine got picked up from time to time & brought to easier parts, apparently. Trish said she missed my company on the hill. :( After lunch at the top of the Cirque we all took the minibus to La Grotte des Demoiselles. It is the largest cave in the world. Inside all stalagmite & stalagcite formations. It was phenomenal. We opted to do this today since it was still miserable out, so that tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be nice we'll get more cycling in. The place we are staying at tonight is again in the middle of nowhere & has acres of vineyards & a winery on-site. The rooms are so nice & dinner was insane!!

Friday, October 13, 2006

So, we finally come to today...

The weather finally turned out to be exactly what I was expecting on this trip (and apparently what is more typical). This area is very arid. They do not get rain often, but when they do they get a lot of it at once, which is what happened this week unfortunately. Today we had a very beautiful ride up into the hills - more nice, steady, long climbs to a plateau. Then down, down, down into the valley below through a series of hairpins. I tried my best to capture it on film. We had a picnic lunch past the vineyards & there were many other cyclists out. In fact we ran into a family from Scotland whom we'd met yesterday in the Grottes. We arrived in Sommelieres around 3PM and I'm now sitting here updating all of you. Today my allergies (which I'm realizing is my problem this week - perhaps mold from the end of the harvest?) are not totaly resolving, but I'm certainly feeling better (and I took a whack of various remedies for it). I could have done the col today - perhaps I should have had Joe drive me back to it! ;) Tomorrow we all part ways & I'm off to Avignon. It's been fun & I'd do it again, but I know how I'd also do it differently. All-in-all though, a great cycling trip. This region is very beautiful & Tricia, who has done Provence says it's much prettier than that region. We've mainly stuck to side & back roads which were decent surface-wise, although (as is typical) very narrow. As a result of this I was not overly comfortable bombing down the hills as I normally try to do - windy roads the width of one of our lanes with the potential of a vehicle coming ahead - not so good for speed. That & I would get so far ahead of the group that it wouldn't be that fun & I'd end up waiting for them to catch up. I did have some pretty decent descents though.

That's it for now. I'll update more in the coming days. Oh yeah - and I'm speaking French not too badly as well!