Day 20 - Saint Amboix to Pont de Montvert - Gorging in France ...Then Basquing in the Pyrenees - 2023

May 7, 2023

Day 20 - Saint Amboix to Pont de Montvert

Over the Divide - Barely

A long day in the saddle. A short blog post.

This was probably the slowest and toughest 50 km’s we’ve ridden in a long time.

The original plan for the day was to make it into Florac, which would have been an 80 km 1300+ m day. By the time we reached Vialis, running out of water in what was by then a hot and sunny day, and only at 40 km’s in and 500m of the 1000 m (net) we had to climb to get over the divide, it was clear that an early bail out in Pont de Montvert was going to be the most likely outcome. And that’s what happened.

So we only rode about 60 km, but we still got our 1300 m in, net elevation gain for the day, 750m. The beauty of writing this up the day after is that it doesn’t seem as exhausting now as it did 24 hrs ago. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The day was pretty straight forward. It started at about 5 am when Kirsten ‘nudged’ me and said that it was starting to rain … and our battery packs were still outside charging on the ‘electrical post’. After dutifully retrieving them my phone lit up with our first CB message of the day -“looks like great weather for camping!” - referring to yesterday’s post.

To be fair, that comment applied to today as well, right up until that very moment.

The rain didn’t last long but we set out from St Amboix under cloudy skies, and ‘noisy’ conditions. Noisy? well it was Sunday morning and instead of a ‘show and shine’ there was a timed sports car rally. We were a bit concerned as the cars were heading off every thirty seconds down he same road we taking, however they turned off at the next intersection.

After that we were pretty much on our own. All we had to do was climb. And then climb some more. And even then we weren’t done. I was certainly flagging but even K said the climb was draining.

The countryside was beautiful, the sky cleared off, the temperature rose and the sweat poured off of both of us. However, we did make it to the summit of col de la Croix … about the same time the wind came up from the west and the clouds started to spit on us.

Persevere … it’s only 10 km downhill to Pont de Montvert. This was a pretty lively village and obviously a main spot for hikers and climbers. The village was loaded with people and all of the restaurants were open …. And all of the hotels were booked …yes we tried … but the very nice municipal campground had room so it was another night in Agnes.

Oh, and the Macaroni that couldn’t be cooked on 1st May … it met its demise tonight.

Once we were showered and fed we were content and happy to spend another comfortable night with Agnes, and looked forward to a very easy day tomorrow with a downhill ride into Florac.

All day uphill!

Heart

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SOTD - Farewell Ride by Beck.

Hey, I know Beck’s not for everyone, and the song might come off as a big downer, but as I’m listening to it now, with some distance between me and the day … it’s how I felt ‘in the moment’ … works for me.

Starting off in St Amboix an a cool and drizzling morning. First task, negotiate through the start of the Sunday car rally. We were a bit worried as these guys were all heading down the same road we were going on, 30 seconds apart. It worked out Ok though as they took the first turn off out of town, and we continued along on own own… as it would be for most of the day.

Looking west to the volcanic hills and mountains that we have to climb

After about half an hour of climbing, the sun a came out so we took a short break to set up and dry out the tent fly, take off a layer and slop on some sun screen. It went from cool to hot very quickly!

For a bit of relief there were a few hairpin turns and streams to cross

The ubiquitous French col signs that remind you where you are and how much you have left to do. This climb is not onerous on a normal a day, but for some reason, this was not a normal day for me. K on the other hand was a champion and dutifully waited for me.

We finally topped out after nearly 800 m of net climb. K had been here for quite a while and while waiting knitted a pair of mittens and baked a loaf of sourdough. She also saw a wild boar run across the road in front of her. Only one of these is true, but given the amount of time she was waiting at the summit, both are plausible.

Then it was downhill along the headwaters of the Tarn. This was the first of may bridge crossings of the Tarn we will have over the next several days.

And here’s what the Tarn looks like as a newborn river. Let’s watch it grow and see what impact it has on it’s downstream environment over teh next days!

….. Our sign off for the day pic … with a bit of cheating. This was taken in Florac, at our lovely lunch the next day, as we were pretty much zombies once we got to Pont de Montvert

Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 879 km (546 miles)

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Rose TobiasI happen to like Beck quite a bit! Loving your journal, keep it up. You two are an inspiration.
Rose
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1 year ago

Kirsten KaarsooTo Rose TobiasThank you Rose for your kind words. This means a lot as at the end of a cycling day Lyle doesn’t always feel like writing. Hearing that you are reading and enjoying hearing about our rides is encouraging. 🚴‍♀️
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1 year ago