April 14, 2022
In Uzès: a hike to the Gardon
The title is misleading. We didn’t really hike all the way to the Gardon (aka the Gard), but we did hike to a magnificent viewpoint high above it. To hike to the river itself would have added a half mile descent from the viewpoint and a climb back up again. Still, a twelve mile hike felt like a significant accomplishment and probably the longest hike I’ve taken myself for over a year, although of course Rachael routinely walks this far and longer all the time.
The day began with us eating breakfast in the room again and then packing up. We’re staying in Uzès a third night because of the bicycle situation but not at this hotel, which was booked up. Instead we’re relocating to one about a half mile south, almost right across the road from the Giant bike store that has my Bike Friday. The one we’re in now is allowing us to leave our baggage here for the day, so the plan is to leave it here, take our hike, schlep our bags to the new hotel, and then check in at the Giant store to see if I have a functioning bike again.
It’s a long walk on a day with a full agenda, so we’re out the door by 9, walking south on the same path I’ve been walking to and from the Giant store. Even though I’ve done it two or three times now, we’re chatting away and not paying attention to where we’re going so we land on a different path south - very nice, but in the wrong direction so we start our long hike by adding a half mile it didn’t need.
Past the bike store the path ends and we have about a half mile on the shoulder of a busy highway until we leave it for a quiet lane that eventually turns to a dirt/gravel path. We’ll be on paths and village streets for the next nine miles, until we return to that busy highway on our way back to the hotel.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The hike to the viewpoint goes back and forth in this way - a stretch on the pavement, then dirt and gravel; then back on the pavement as we cross the village of Sagries; then back on the dirt and limestone on an eccentric trail with quirky artwork along the way until we’re back on pavement in the next village, Sanilhac; and then a climb through the garrigue to the summit of the ridge above the Gardon. It’s a lovely hike - nothing too steep or strenuous, and conditions are perfect - sunny, warm, working its way to a high of 75.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 1 | Link |
2 years ago
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
When we arrive, the viewpoint down into the Gardon gorge is impressive and easily justifies the walk. There’s a display panel identifying the features below, but there’s just this small clearing before the trail burrows back into the trees again. There’s no place to sit so we have our look and turn back.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
It’s about noon when we turn back, and it’s starting to warm up. We haven’t had lunch yet and decide that we’ll just grab a bench in the shade when we return through Sanilhac, but when we get there we’re seduced by an attractive boulangerie with tables in the shade and stop there for about a half hour. We have some time to kill anyway, because the bike shop won’t open again for the afternoon until 2:30.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We keep a steady pace the rest of the way back, returning to the bike store at 2:15 - a bit too early to wait around in this hot sun for it to open so we continue on to last nights hotel to collect our belongings and relocate them. It’s an awkward problem - we have four full panniers plus odds and ends, one bicycle, and a half mile of mixed pavement and rough trail to traverse and .2 miles on a narrow busy road. We decide that I’ll take Rachael’s bike and the two heaviest panniers, and she’ll take the other two and walk. For the first half of the distance I hang one of her panniers from a brake lever and we walk together, but when the pavement ends I leave her with her two to walk the rest of the way and I head to the highway to coast down to the hotel. It’s quite awkward - the bike is much too small for me, it’s harder to control with panniers, there’s a lot of traffic and no shoulder. I don’t really quite have control of it, so I keep watching for breaks in the traffic and coast for awhile until the next stream comes along and I pull off and come to a stop again.
I make it to the hotel safely though, get us registered and deposit my load in our room, and am just about to head out to cross paths with Rachael to help her the rest of the way when I get a call - she’s at the hotel already.
Ten minutes later I’m walking down the street to the Giant store.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The Saga of the Broken Derailleur, Chapter 3
The next couple of hours are a stressful emotional roller-coaster. I’ll just hit the high points, because I’m tired of thinking about it. When I walk in his door the Giant guy tells me that for the first time ever his parts vendor failed him. He can’t believe it. He was promised that the derailleur would be delivered today, but in fact it won’t be for another full week. He knew of this this morning and tried to phone me the news so we could consider alternatives, but in another unsolved mystery he couldn’t reach me.
I tell him to cancel the order because I can’t wait that long. We’ll have to come up with something different. He calls the parts vendor up to plead again, and it sounds like maybe they could ship it sooner except that it’s too late today and they’re closing for a long Easter weekend tomorrow. So that’s a dead end.
He browses through the internet looking for other possible suppliers, doesn’t find one, and anyway it’s too late in the day to place an order. It’s looking like we’re dead in the water until after Easter. We brainstorm some possibilities - could he shorten the chain and convert the bike to a one speed so I could at least bike to the train station in Nimes? No, he doesn’t think that will work. Could we do something radical, replacing the whole works with whatever he does have in stock - derailleur, cluster, brake lever, cables? Not really. He walks through the shop looking at every bike he’s got on the off chance that one is an eleven speed, but no.
Finally, he suggests I give him some time to think and check back in at the end of the day; so I walk back to the hotel and share the bad news with Rachael and we start brainstorming ourselves.
We decide the best plan is to leave Uzès and get to a bigger place - Nimes or Montpellier. At her urging I get on the phone and dial up the bike shop in Lunel (a town near Montpellier, on the train line) that looks the most promising. And, surprise of surprises, the guy I get speaks English, understands the situation, has a derailleur that should work (a Shimano 105), and they have time if we can get the bike in. Maybe they can fit it in tomorrow afternoon, but Saturday for sure.
So we have a plan. We’ll take a taxi to the Nimes train station in the morning and take the train to Lunel. Rachael starts researching for whether lodging is available in Lunel (it’s Easter weekend, remember) while I walk back to the Giant store to pick up my bike.
When I walk in the shop, the Giant guy is just pulling my bike off the stand, wheels it over to me and tells me to take it for a test ride. I do, and all the gears work. It seems fine! I feel almost giddy at this sudden turn of fortune when I return. He explains what he did - he found a Shimano 9 speed derailleur and put that on and adjusted it. We’re both uncertain whether this will work and for how long, but at the moment it feels like a minor miracle. I pay him off and bike back to the motel to share the unexpectedly happy news.
Rachael’s not convinced. She’s been reading up enough on derailleurs to believe this won’t work; and after I read up on it myself I agree with her. A lot of gear combinations are backwards compatible, but apparently not an eleven speed with a lower number derailleur because Shimano’s 11 speed shifter has a different ‘pull-ratio’, a figure I’d never heard of or thought about. I haven’t quite got the concept yet but I’ve read enough assertions now that a 9 speed derailleur and 11 speed shifter are incompatible to believe it. It might work for awhile, but not in the long term.
So, the new new new plan. We’re still heading to Lunel tomorrow, but the taxi is out. We’ll bike to the Nimes train station, which is flat or downhill most of the way so not much shifting will be required anyway. The cost of the new derailleur and chain I just bought should about balance out the cost of the taxi.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 8 |
2 years ago
I’m surprised your gears are shifting well at all. rear derailleurs typically do not like working with cassettes of different than intended speeds because of the pull ratio issue Rachel mentioned. It comes down to how much cable is pulled with each shift. Shimano uses different pull ratios even with their road vs mountain bike derailleurs. SRAM at least uses the same ratio for both so you’ve got more options for derailleurs there. SRAM and shimano aren’t compatible because of that, thought you can use any brand rear cassette as long as it has the correct number of cogs. I ran into that with a 10 speed derailleur. I bought a used cassette and could not figure out why i wasn’t able to adjust the shifting until I counted the number of cogs. Turns out I’d been sold an 8-speed cassette.
Definitely get a proper 11-speed derailleur. Shimano 105 is good quality. Small step down from Ultegra, but still more than good enough for a long tour. Shimano makes high quality parts. If nothing else, this is an opportunity to learn more about bike tech!
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago