May 2, 2023 to May 4, 2023
St Jean de Fos - Valence
Stage 12
My night in St Jean de Fos was very comfortable and a lovely breakfast was prepared for me with fresh croissant, bread, strawberries, yogurt, orange juice and coffee. The croissant and bread were freshly delivered, and the view from the breakfast room was beautiful.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Since I'd discovered (12 years ago) that eating anything containing gluten made my left hip very painful, I've avoided gluten. Karolina told me the culprit might be any of the 700 proteins in wheat, and not actually gluten. I'd also read, and been told, that the flour in Europe is somehow different from NZ/Australia and gluten intolerant people are able to eat it with fewer effects. I was keen to test this, but nervous of the impact on both riding and walking, so the presentation of this beautiful breakfast was the perfect time to start the test process. I ate the croissant and the bread, and waited.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The riding from St Jean de Fos to Valence was through beautiful Rhone Valley fruit growing countryside, with the trail following voie Verte cycle ways, and me sometimes choosing to re-route onto D roads when the Trail indicated a rough, steep path.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
After a night near Ales, I enjoyed some more D roads (D904/D104) and in Saint Paul le Jeune, I had lunch in a park with Jack from Aubernas, who was out testing a 100km ride on his new ebike. He has a project to ride the Northern coast of Spain, and his preparation was well developed. He seemed impressed at me having ridden from Portugal.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
When we joined the Via Rhona path we started to see many more touring cyclists riding South, bound for Marseille if riding the full 800 km route from North of Lake Geneva. On this particular day they were all battling a strong headwind, when usually the wind is consistently behind them. I may have been the only happy rider out there.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Our Gite host in Valence, Bruno, is a TdF fan from way back, with many posters and photos displayed in the dorm rooms. Bruno also had an excellent sense of humour, and delivered it in both French and English, and often against himself.
Dorian also made it to Valence for the night - this was the second time we'd met, with the first being back between Ourique and Mertola, 5 weeks ago! We have exchanged many messages about the trail, and our individual plans - I think he is now a Komoot Super User from all the re-routes he has made to his EDT experience. Dorian now has only 8 days riding before he is home, and this part of his adventure comes to a close.
Stage 12 has been a highlight in terms of beautiful scenery at every turn, and I've been amazed at the spectrum of greens I've ridden through in the past 3 days. The Trail has 260km for this stage, and 2820m of climbing. My version: 261km and 2360m.
Today's ride: 261 km (162 miles)
Total: 2,641 km (1,640 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
I have never had to reduce the size of my images. I wonder what the problem is.
1 month ago