In Adast/Argelès-Gazost

June 6, 2024

Another rest day! We didn’t do much; we rode into Argelès-Gazost twice, once in the morning to look around and again in the evening for dinner. The Voie Verte des Gaves makes this easy to do because it’s not far, it’s smoothly paved, and it’s essentially flat until you get to town.

This is where Al and his VVV buddies stayed in 2016. He doesn’t remember the town at all; they rode over Marie-Blanque, Aubisque, and Soulor, and then he and one or two others decided to do an OAB to Hautacam. Ride, eat, sleep!

There are many of these bike racks in Argelès-Gazost and other towns/villages in the area. This one is in front of the Mairie/Hôtel de Ville (the building has both names on it) and has been beautified by adding a planter.

At our coffee stop, we started talking to two British fellows when we moved our bikes to make room for theirs. We were wondering about which day rides we should consider and whether Col d’Aubisque was possible due to the road closure between here and Col du Soulor (which I only knew about prior to this point because Scott Fenwick wrote about it in his journal a week or so ago). Like us, they hadn’t heard anything official so had asked at TI. “Absolutely closed”, they were told. But then, TI agents are rarely cyclists, so we decided we’d ask at a bike shop. By this time, it was after noon, so all information options were closed.

View from the Voie Verte approaching Adast.

Al’s wider angle shows a bit of the Voie Verte

There are info panels about the villages en route or notable sights on the neighbouring hillsides.

Flower of the day: hydrangea. There’s a beautiful border of white hydrangeas beside the lawn we walk on to the bike storage shed at th3 B&B.

Today's ride: 24 km (15 miles)
Total: 1,641 km (1,019 miles)

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