October 1, 2024
Lourdes to Navarrenx
I'm still feeling quite moved by my basilica visit last night. I'm not that far from the Véloroute 81, so I navigate to the nearest opening. Ope, immediate mistake, it's a rail trail. I'm bumping over tree roots and there are lots of hikers. I head back onto a road cycling route. At the nearest farm stand, I become acutely aware that I'm getting into foie gras country. Enjoy some photos of my roll.
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Ping! A WarmShowers host has responded to me. Yes, he can host me tonight in Navarrenx! Yeehaw, I barely have to alter my route.
Another farm stand, and I see some livestock being carted off, maybe to the abattoir. The driver can't hear me, but I call out to him "medium-rare for me, thanks!" Solo touring, you have to have soft conversations to entertain yourself.
You know, it's kind of nice to do challenging but non-competitive things. Bike touring is really scratching that itch. When I think back on Ventoux, even though it sucked so much in the moment, I love that memory. When I was back in Sitka this summer, an organized run was happening. Amanda and I, neither of us runners or even hikers, mused about how it'd be a good challenge next year. Seven miles with a 2.5h time cut-off. And, we joked, if we couldn't finish, a quarter of the runners are Search and Rescue, Coast Guard, or Fire Department. Three days later, we talked ourselves into doing it and pinky-promised each other. Fast-forward to today, three months later. I've been telling everybody about it as a mechanism to ensure follow-through. So here again to several more internet readers, I broadcast my intention to do the Sitka Alpine Adventure Run in summer 2025. Plus, Amanda's been sending me videos of her doing part of the trail, so I know she's training.
Back to regularly-scheduled programming. At the next farm stand, I pick up a new thing. Piment d'Espelette and cherry jam. Piment d'Espelette is a pepper grown in Basque country, and it's got those three special letters suffixed -- AOC. Anything with AOC behind it, I'm on board. I get into Navarrenx, and stop at an outdoor dugout that's been repurposed as a free library. It's charming and clearly well-maintained. The leaves are all swept out, and there's two picnic tables outside.
I get to Christophe and Nathalie's just as they arrive home from work. Good stuff, because the rain starts ten minutes later. My quarters are an attic room, and I hop in for a hot shower before apéro. We have magret de canard for dinner with roasted vegetables. Delicious, Christophe is an excellent cook. I really gel with Christophe and Nathalie. It's been difficult for me to display any personality or humour in French, but we are hitting it off like peanut butter and jelly. Maybe it helps that we're all quite into fisheries. We spend a lot of time talking about fish and game regulations! They're interested in hearing about Alaska, and I learn that Navarrenx prides itself on being the capital of salmon. New vocab of the night: écloserie de poisson (fish hatchery), tout part à vau-l'eau (it's all going downhill), and au milieu de nulle part (middle of nowhere) and trou du cul du monde (pejorative, bumfuck middle of nowhere).
Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 1,303 km (809 miles)
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