A Coupiac loop sort of

June 13, 2023

Today was an interesting one since we didn’t have a really good map and since some of these small villages are not often sign posted. Therefore we made a mistake that led to an interesting ride. The mistake was all ours since we didn’t pay attention to one right turn about which we were briefed. Nonetheless we have been here long enough to get a lay of the land so there was not a real issue.

Leaving plaisance it was all uphill to Martrin and not on a great surface and when I say up hill it was 7-9% for 9.5km on cold legs. Once in Martrin we stopped to view the old church after which we set off in what we thought was the right direction, but was not. We screamed down a lovely hill only to come upon Coupiac which was supposed to be later in our ride so we knew we were on the wrong road. Now it was decision time. Just do a short ride or go back up and fix the mistake. We came up with a third option. D&L rode back up to Martrin to pick up where should have been. I road the 7km UP to Montclar to meet up with D&L. Even though they had an extra 4km they were on e-bikes so with my road bike the timing was perfect to meet there. We regrouped in Montclar for our lunch stop before heading back to Plaisance which was all downhill, Yahoo!

In the end I rode 35km with 2100’ of climbing with most of it pretty steep.

More importantly Linda and I had arranged to have a massage at the hotel later in the afternoon.

Tomorrow I am rewarding myself and taking an e-bike so we can go farther afield and just enjoy the ride. If we don’t run out of battery it could be as much as 100km, stay tuned.

The Magnolia trees have started to bloom, some of these trees are 500 years old.

We were supposed to do the red loop but we went down the middle on the yellow line by mistake. I road up to Montclar while D&L retraced their steps and rejoined the route. We all returned from Montclar.

This lovely church is the only thing in St Exupery.

The church in Martrin where we made our mistake.

This is Coupiac from the road that were not supposed to be on. It is a lovely view of the village.

The war memorial. Each of these small villages has one of these of some description.

The café where we had our light lunch in Montclar.

The castle and church in Coupiac. This village has been around since the 1200s.

This Claudia the hotel owner, proprietor, waitress, chauffeur and gardener or whatever else needs doing. She is delightful bundle of energy.

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 1,678 km (1,042 miles)

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