Day Eight - Bédoin to Gap
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Today it was time to leave Bédoin and head off towards Gap, where for the first time on this trip I had a Warm Showers host ready and waiting for my arrival. I hadn't managed to arrange this up until this point as I really was winging it each day, and by the time I knew where I was stopping for the day it was too late to start asking on the Warm Showers app for local fellow cycle tourers to put me up for the night. On the one hand it gives you that extra bit of freedom, but it's more expensive and can be a bit lonely.
Well, I wasn't particularly lonely in Bédoin at least. Not only was this a cycling hotspot (few if any bikepackers though, boo), there were plenty of other cyclists. I can't remember exactly how packing up went but according to my notes I at least managed to leave by 9:30, so not terrible. Before I left I chatted to Bruce (have I written about him yet, this is being written about five weeks later) again who at this point I can remember he...voted for Brexit and is a doctor. I suppose that implies that he's British so I don't need to say that. Oh. Anyway, an unexpected combination of voting history and occupation for me, but life is full of suprises! It was pleasing to meet a fellow brit on the far side of France. I think he said he was on a motorcycle holiday but he goes on cycling holidays too.
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When I did manage to set off, it wasn't long until the first climb began. I knew I wasn't climbing Ventoux itself, thank goodness (not with luggage!) but I was still going around it and I suspect taking in some of its slopes all the same. It was a long drag, with not many other cyclists joining me unlike the previous day heading up Ventoux itself. My recollection of the day was that while I was happy to have a Warm Showers host planned for the evening, it did add a soupçon (didn't know that word was floating around in my vocab, although it turns out my first attempt at spelling it, soupson, wasn't quite right) of stress and challenge for the day.
Distances that usually seem like a non-issue suddenly become difficult to judge when you know you're in the alps, and you have luggage with you. Not only that, but you're supposed to treat the riding itself in an almost casual manner. If you ride like you're on a strict schedule and there's no time to enjoy your surroundings and savour your meals along the way you do start to wonder what the point was in going to the trouble in the first place. Then you find yourself maybe getting a little stressed about whether you've got the challenge vs holiday balance right. It really is an (admittedly first world) problem! I want a challenge but I don't want it to consume my thoughts throughout the day, as then it just becomes a slogfest. Maybe my garmin needs a built in challeng-o-meter rating for the route. I don't think there's an app for that.
Anyway, back to the riding. I don't recall the gradient being particularly steep, so that was a blessing. Just a slow slog up the side of the hill. Looking at the map I can see yes, pretty much was the southern side of Mont Ventoux following the Route De La Gabelle. Going up the slope I found myself listening to a podcast episode discussing the different ways you can now use voice faking software combined with ChatGPT style conversation AI. It's scary stuff, and the people talking to this AI struggle to work out whether they're talking to the real person or not. Fascinating albeit unsettling. What it did do however was distract me enough from the climb. Fortunately the weather was still pretty good.
Getting to the top of the climb I was met with a pleasant view of Sault, which was a relief, what was not so much of a relief was the surprising and frustrating wind! The descent ahead of me followed the side of the hilltop, a gentle gradient along its edge until it arrived at the bottom and took a right turn. The wind would not have bothered me so much if it were a headwind, but instead I was greeted with a crosswind combined with a descent, which isn't ideal conditions so far as I'm concerned. The road wasn't particularly quiet either. With some hesitation I made my way down, but it was definitely an anti-climax to find I was concerned about staying upright. The view from the top was novel, it was as if Sault was an island in a drained lake.
As you've probably gathered, getting to the bottom of the slope was a relief, with just a short ride to Sault for lunch. Unfortunately I had to climb again to get in to Sault! At least it didn't take very long, and as luck would have it I found a bakery to get a freshly made baguette. The locals laughing at me missing the sign in French at the entrance stating what was on offer wasn't particulary pleasant. Onwards and upwards! Well, ideally downwards but given the nature of where I found myself, unlikely!
I ended up turning back on myself to find somewhere pleasant to eat, settling on a bench facing the descent I'd just came down. It was a pleasant view, but what would have been relatively peaceful was spoiled somewhat by a couple of children playing with autumnal leaves. It's not like I dislike children per se, it's just sitting down to enjoy my lunch like that with a pleasant view, I don't really want to have to endure random loud noises. I made the most of it, the view was still fantastic, and the sun was shining. There was a wasp that was quite keen to see what I was up to however, unsurprisingly it was very interested in the fruit tart I'd bought. Ah, but I had a circular sealable container! Wasp defeated! It did not return when I started actually eating the tart, to my relief. As an aside, I have no idea whether any of this is interesting to read, but at least when I'm on my rocking chair in my old age I'll have something to read!
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I set off again, with (checks Strava...) another sixty miles remaining and another climb left to do. It's no wonder my mood was less than stellar! It's probably pointing out the obvious, but mood on these trips can be very dependent on the immediate context. This day I'm writing about now (several weeks later) was the day after I'd had a relatively lazy day in Bedoin. Yes I'd cycled up Mont Ventoux but there was zero stress involved, and the weather was fantastic. Whereas on this ride to Gap, I knew I wanted to be at my host's home ideally before 7PM, and it was a big day of riding.
A big day of riding in the south of France with the sun shining (albeit lots of wind!). Offer me that in the middle of winter with sub-zero temperatures outside in the middle of a working week and I would have been delighted. Serve it up to me in the middle of a holiday I'm already on however and I find myself in a bad mood. On reflection it just goes to show how difficult it can be to appreciate what you've got sometimes. Writing this at 17:20 on a Wednesday evening in October, I'd quite happily be back there again of course, at least in those conditions. It's probably a bit chilly there now!
I got to the bottom of the next climb, and witnessed some other riders freewheeling down some of the sweeping bends. One of them had their foot off the pedal to keep themselves steady, not a good sign. When I turned that corner I could see why they'd done it, again the cross wind was quite disconcerting. Fortunately most of the ascent was actually under tree cover. When I got to the top to my surprise it was actually a proper "Col", sign and all - "col de l'Homme Mort". Doesn't Mort mean death? Time to look up a translation. Dead Man's Pass. Well, the crosswinds fortunately didn't have that grim an effect on me.
For the record, "zoom and enhance" is a stupid TV trope that makes no sense. As you may have gathered, no I didn't zoom in on the original photo, I walked closer and took a closer photo 😉.
The next few hours were mostly downhill, which on the fact of it seemed like they should have been easy as it was majority descending, but it was still a further fifty miles to go so a bit of a slog. That said, the views really were spectacular. A lot of the riding was along the river Méouge. One of the advantages of writing these logs weeks later is I can casually look these things up easily on my computer. Some of the scenery along the river was fantastic. According to wikipedia: "The lime colored gorge has wild shapes, small sandy beaches, huge polished pebbles, water holes and waterfalls. It is famous for swimming.". Yes that sums it up, it was rather tempting to just stop! The famous stretch is called "Gorges de la Méouge". Just look it up on Google Images...I cycled there, practically by accident! The joys of travelling by bicycle.
Sadly once I'd passed through the gorge section, the joys of cycling evaporated somewhat, and I found myself on fast road after fast road. I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but the saving grace was again the French drivers on the whole treating me with respect, to my relief.
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I did manage to get to Gap by 7PM, although Laurence gave me the wrong address, only by a few house numbers, woops! Admittedly I do to a degree when I see other people make mistakes like this, as it reminds me that none of us are perfect and makes me feel better when I make similar mistakes. In the moment it can often feel like you're the only one who'd do that. Once I'd been welcomed in to her home, we had a quick chat but it wasn't long before I was having my well deserved shower, and looking forward to a homecooked meal. The meal was tasty, as was the dessert. I may have gone a bit overboard on the peach juice, but I do love my fruity juice drinks. Sorry Laurence!
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