Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

After the usual consideration and debate, we've settled on this spring's tandem tour.  Once again we're staying close to home, exploring more of this beautiful country that has sheltered us for the past 10 years. 

There is an association in France that designates the most beautiful villages in the country -  "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" .   This trip is designed to hit 11 or possibly 12 of these villages.  (There are about 180 or so in total).   In the process, we'll visit some areas we've never explored, like the Luberon and the back country north of Le Mont Ventoux in the Drome.

Rich has also been wanting to ride on the "Dolce Via", a rails-to-trails conversion that rises from the Rhone river to high in the Ardèche.   Since the Dolce Via drops us off pretty high up in the mountains, we decided to use the elevation to explore the higher elevations of the Ardèche, eventually descending to take in the Ardèche Gorges.  Thanks to Keith and Kathleen Classen for the inspiration!

We'll start and finish in Nimes, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from home.  So we'll fit in a ride across Rich's beloved Pont du Gard on our way back to the car on our last day. 

Our equipment will remain basically unchanged.  Schnooks is our coupled titanium Chinook Tandem.  David Lafferty of Cycles Chinook has built a beautiful bike for us.  It's nicely set up for touring and mixed surfaces.  The 650B wheels are built to handle the extra weight of touring, and the 42mm Panaracer Gravelking tires work well on gravel.  They roll smoothly on pavement, too.  

We use Ortleib bags, Sena bike helmets, and a random collection of paraphernalia that we've accumulated from previous trips.   

We don't camp, so accommodations will be in hotels, and chambres d'hôtes.   We generally assemble breakfast and lunch from market-bought products, and eat dinners out in restaurants.

We plan on 13 riding days, with a day of unloaded exploring in the Luberon,  a rest day in Montélimar, and a rest day in the Ardèche at Ruoms.   A total of about 750km with 8500m of climbing.   Hope the old legs are up to the challenge!   

We'll start this trip in early June.