Jen and I arrived in Castries; a small town just outside Montpellier; on Saturday afternoon. We drove over from Bilbao with Louise in two small trips in two days. Along the way we were able to catch long glimpses of the Pyrenees and they looked like a very rugged mountain range from afar, but many adventures were had there in CCC Pyrenees in 2011. Along the way, our legs were somewhat heavy after 10 hard days of CCC Cantabrico but with new scenery and settings were eager to stretch out with a shorter ride to explore.
It did not take long to get out of town and into more rural surroundings. The gradients were much tamer than the terrain we had just left which we were quite thankful for. We felt like we were surrounded by vineyards with each and every road we took and in some ways we were reminded of Rivesaltes where we had started CCC Pyrenees. We started out doing the final few kilometers of Stage 10 backwards and enjoyed what we saw.
Local vintner getting us in the mood for some wine
The next morning, we took care of some laundry and bike cleaning after a proper French breakfast with croissants and pan au chocolates - hard to beat! This time we headed out on the start of Stage 1 but headed to our first col from a different direction, but before doing so, we headed into Castries for some proper pre and post-ride treats from a local Boulangerie. Views on our ride were impressive and made us look forward to what lies ahead on our next trip.
Aqueduct heading out of Castries
Looking forward to more southern France views like this
Once back, we cleaned up, relaxed and had a beer and pizza dinner with riders that had been arriving for the trip. Beer and pizza was courtesy of Phil setting it up as our hotel restaurant was closed on Sunday evening.
Today; Monday; we woke up and again had a proper French breakfast. After plotting out another route which would take us up and over Stage 1’s col, we set out. Today were joined by Nick Millar; another Cent Col regular; who we’ve met before on a previous CCC adventure (never will forget hot chocolate he bought for us after heading down a windy rainy and light snowy Passo Tonale in CCC Dolomites). Today’s route was great (Pic du St Loup) and included a mix of quiet roads with only a few busier ones. I did manage to find some 10% gradients today on a road that seemed to imperceptibly be climbing along vineyards. So steep roads are out here - I am sure we will find more of them in the coming days. We were even lucky enough to run into a French army caravan that was happy to yield the road to cyclists.
Single lane road exploring fun, yes, the bike lanes are nearly as big as the car lane
After a the Pic du St Loup we headed into Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers for a proper cafe stop. Orangina and a cappucino along with streetside dining with great company, again hard to beat.
Three days of relaxed paced riding should hopefully have us rested up to tackle our next CCC journey.
Set for the next trip with plenty Vitamin N-utella
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