September 8, 2024
Day Nine - Gap to Briançon
I think for the first time on this trip (despite more hotel stays than I care to admit) I actually got a full night's sleep last night. Rejoice! I think I knew that would likely be the case given that I was so tired that getting up to go to bed seemed like a hassle in and of itself. I was very close to falling asleep on the sofa. That would have been a great look I'm sure.
Despite what Laurence had suggested, that I could not get to Briancon in a day, I decided I would try. When the route finally came up on my Garmin, it read out as 55 miles and 3,000ft of climbing. Surely doable, even if my bike is heavier than it has been on previous trips.
Again I wanted to leave at 9AM, but also again it didn't quite happen. Laurence was thinking that the rain would let off as the morning progressed. I avoided the heaviest rainshower at the start of the morning at about 9:10AM by just chatting with her in the garage while observing the poor weather. By about 9:20 I'd decided I'd just have to get out there in the rain. Ive Cycled plenty of times in the rain before of course, it's not as if its scary! It is more concerning when bikepacking though. I really don't like wet shoes!
Riding in to Gap was straight forward enough - there were cycle tracks leading to the centre which was pleasing to see, however they mostly went up and down with each junction and kerb they encountered, which quickly put me off such that I got back to the road. Smooth tarmac is definitely preferable, even if it means mixing with motor traffic. Fortunately French drivers are a standard above British drivers.
The plan was for me to head to the Intermarche on the edge of the other side of town, but I encountered a Lidl before that, which seemed like an agreeable option. I was going to lock the bike up, but the cycle stands were not under cover and they were right by the entrance to the building. Usually I'm grateful for that but when bikepacking it's less than ideal - I don't want to take my frame bag off for example, but I don't want people to be able to easily rifle through it either. In the distance I could see some hedges up against a white wall. Security through obscurity! I didnt even lock the bike up, and from the entrance of the Lidl I couldn't see a bike was there, and there was unlikely to be any reason for anyone to walk in that direction.
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I did start to feel a bit silly how unrushed I felt in the supermarket, however maybe that was just a comment on how confident I felt in my cycle security planning! Nothing particularly exciting for today's meals. I'd already had breakfast at Laurence's home, and for lunch it would be a tandoori chicken sandwich, followed by a risotto ready meal in the evening. I think I've concluded cooking meals from scratch on these trips probably just isn't for me.
Fully stocked (with my backpack on again, boo), off I set along what would be quite a lot of N94 road riding. Imagine a British A road except it's wider and few if any of the drivers are impatient arses...unlike in the UK where they seem concerningingly frequent!
The views were stunning, I was clearly riding through a valley, however the consistent rain and business of the road meant taking photos wasn't really an option. Pleasingly I did encounter a couple of cyclists going the opposite direction, who (if their luggage was anything to go by) were clearly on holiday too. The first chap I think I waved at, the second person, a woman, I smiled and then let out a "woooo" before we passed each other. I think it's pretty obvious when cycle tourers/bikepackers encounter each other, and it's a stronger connection than just normal cyclists just waving and saying hello. Stronger still when you're both bearing bad weather. She was probably having similar thoughts to me along the lines of "is this fun?" so maybe a crazy guy riding the other way shouting "woo" helped cheer her up. She smiled at least. If only she was going in the same direction!
The riding was pretty bland other than the great views. No super steep climbing, on account of it being an artierial road. I think I've already said this before but I probably enjoyed the rain more than the stifling heat of yesterday, which had put me in quite a bad mood.
I closed in on a town at about 12:10, which I thought would make quite a good place to eat lunch, even if it was a bit early. Well, before I'd found somewhere to settle to eat, guess what, another flat tyre! Really frustrating, these are brand new tyres!
I found a peculiar tunnel in the town centre to set up, keeping myself out of the rain. Having the chair was useful once more, as I could fix this flat in relative comfort. Finding the cause was straight forward, a big shard of glass. I'm actually somewhat concerned it's damaged the tyre, as there's now a slight bulge where the puncture happened. The inner tube isn't peeping through so that's something at least. I didn't get another flat today, so maybe it's fine. Still, irritating that it should happen to a new tyre like that.
After fixing the flat, I ate my lunch, which was pretty uninspiring but everywhere tends to close on a Sunday afternoon in France anyway so it's not like there would have been any better options.
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As I type this (in a campsite lounge) the guy to my left keeps looking at me. Am I that loud a typist? Oh well, he could always move!
Inner tube fixed and hunger sated, time to set off again, in my soggy state. I'd actually started to shiver so it was a relief I was able to move again, otherwise I would have had to do some jumping jacks or something to warm up!
I was already halfway to Braincon, which was pleasing compared to previous days. It's not a great feeling if I've got over 60% of the ride left to do at 1PM. Honestly I don't think much else interesting happened on the way here - fairly uneventful.
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I arrived at the campsite soaking wet, not much of a surprise given the weather had been pretty crap all day. Much to my delight there was quite a big indoor lounge attached to this campsite. No sofas but plenty of tables and chairs, which given the miserable weather was definitely a benefit. The swimming pool had seemingly long since closed, which wasn't a big surprise. I decided given that there was an indoor space which was relatively warm to spend my time in, there wasn't much point in setting up the tent until I could be a bit more confident that the rain would hold off while doing it.
In the meantime I looked out of my window and spotted a bunch of motorcyclists eying up my bike and its set up, so I went outside and had a chat with them, which was pleasant enough. I don't think they all spoke English, but enough of them did to have a conversation. If I recall correctly they might have been German. I suspect if you're visiting the Alps, especially on a motor vehicle, which country is to some extent immaterial, you're just there for the Alps. On my trip back on the train from Rome in 2023 I enjoyed learning about how all the different parts of the Alps are managed between the different countries.
I finally got a chance to put up the tent, although in hindsight the only benefit to the spot I picked was the proximity to the toilets and the lounge. It turned out that while I'd picked soil to pitch in rather than mud, that didn't stop the rain from kicking up the soil and splashing my tent with the soil. Not quite what I had in mind, but I guess the more you camp the more likely you are to encounter these edge cases that you hadn't considered that take you by surprise. At least in my defense there weren't any perfectly grassy pitching options close to the facilities.
According to the notes I have for this day, I spent the rest of the evening in the lounge with bare cold feet in my sandals (presumably so that my shoes stood the best chance of drying). Getting in to my tent while it was raining was a bit of a kerfuffle, and my sleep that evening was not great either. If memory serves I was also pithced very close to some lights that were shining all night. Living the dream! 🤘🤘
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