May 29, 2014
Mirepoix
Crossing into the Ariege
Our good fortunes with the weather continued for another day - rains arrived early last night but had moved on by breakfast. What's not to like about a country where the rainfall comes at such convenient times? Even though it was dry, today was gray, windy and cold. A steady 10-15 mph WNW wind persisted throughout the day, generally straight into our faces. Not terrible, but it definitely had a chilling effect. We were lucky that today's route kept to fairly low elevations; I'm sure it would have been quite cold a bit higher up.
Today's ride was a fishhook into the lower foothills north of the Pyrenees. I've forgotten now how this detour away from the mountains landed in our itinerary - maybe I was viewing it as a bit of a rest day, maybe I just wanted to see Mirepoix. In any case it was a very pretty ride and a masterful bit of route-finding if I do say so myself. Except for a few miles around the larger towns we encountered almost no traffic. In profile, the route resembled the Golden Gate Bridge - two modest peaks, evenly spaced, with gradual ascents and descents that stiffened a bit near the top. Both topped out with about a two mile 7-9% climb - enough to get our attention without really draining us.
We stopped for lunch in Limoux, eating our bread and cheese in the town square, grateful that the sun was starting to break through a bit and take the edge off the wind. We didn't stay long though, wanting to save as much of the day as we could for poking around Mirepoix.
Mirepoix was definitely worth a detour. It is a bastide town, built in the early 1300's after the original town was washed away by a collapsed dam. The town is almost impossibly pretty, with its central market surrounded by open-beamed covered walkways and half-timbered houses painted up like oblong Easter eggs. The place was very crowded and festive when we arrived, and a large audience watched and cheered the entrants in some sort of fashion show or beauty pageant - Miss Mirepoix? They were all quite pretty, but no match for the town itself.
Net elevation gain: 3,200' today, 44,200' total.
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 581 miles (935 km)
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