Climbing out of my torpor: Lamalou-les-Bains to le Salvetat
The rain had gone and the air cleared by the time I awoke this morning. I was still feeling the effects of my long day on Friday, but the temperatures were moderate and the wind reasonable. There is a bike trail from Bedarieux to Mazemet that passes through Lamalou, so my first few kilometers were easy.
This mosaic-ed kiosk on the way out of Lamalou caught my eye. Relic of a more prosperous era?
The bike path is on an old railroad grade and is surfaced with crushed stone and sand. This makes it a bit slower than travelling by pavement but the parallel highway is quite busy, so I was glad to be on it. I still flew along for the first few kilometers, stopping once for water. As the trail began the ascent into the hills my pace slowed, but still I had got to Olargue rather quickly. Unfortunately, there was a rockslide that had blocked the trail just beyond Olargue and the work-around that the trail people had concocted included 15 percent grades. Ooof! I'm glad they weren't long. I left the trail at St. Pons and began the real climb of the day toward le Salvetat.
After leaving St. Pons, the climb, now on regular roads gets serious. Looking back toward St. Pons from here you might get an idea of the grade. Its only about five kilometers from the town but I am already three hundred meters higher. You can see the road winding down in the distance.
After much struggle, and several stops to get my heart rate down, I got to the top only to be greeted by rain. I dug my rain cape out of my panniers and put it on, only to have the rain stop five minutes later. The route continued along the crest of the hills to a secondary summit where I took this selfie. The rain cape acted as an air brake on the descent into Fraisse-sur-Agoute.
The descent was a welcome relief, but by the time I got to Fraisse it was after two and the service at the restaurant was over. Rather than stop, I took off the rain cape and continued to le Salvetat just down the road. At le Salvetat I decided to call it a day and I started looking for a place to stay. The bar in town had a sign out for rooms so I booked myself in there. The first room the young fellow tending bar showed me had graffiti on the walls, so I looked at another which was clean, but basic. No TV, no wifi, just a tub with a hand held shower hose, but any port in a storm I say. I asked about dinner, and was told I could get the room en pension meaning with meals, so I did that, breakfast being thrown in on the deal. I showered and spent the time until supper wandering about the town and reading.
Slate siding in le Salvetat. This was quite common. It is held on with hand-forged nails and hooks and must be quite old.
