Protein Night and the Hat of Justice

After our great ride to Montsegur, we retired to the common area at Montfaucon for a few beers. Jerome really wanted a salami sandwich (a/k/a un sandwich saucission avec cornichon), so he headed off to the town square. Earlier in the week, we had gone to the same spot where we ordered sandwiches for lunch. Martin had to send his back due to the lackluster quantity of cornichon and a complete absence of butter. When it came back, the butter application was (to Martin) appalling -- two large chunks of butter were mashed into the bread dough by a person obviously not as passionate about sandwich making as Martin. Another complaint and much discussion in French resulted in the delivery of a knife and two pats of butter for self-service. Today, however, Jerome's sandwich was flawless, as he emailed us this photo live from the town square.

Dinner tonight was "protein night" at a hunting lodge up in Bugarach, below the peak of the same name. The specialty here was the leg of lamb, fire roasted on a spit and drizzed in flambe style with some kind of mysterious animal fat substance rendered and cured over a span of time I don't even want to think about. It was delicious.

The weather was unbelievable. After several hot days in a row, we were treated at dinner to a light refreshing rainshower, followed by some sunshine and a perfect double rainbow right off the deck. After the meal, Nathalie produced a crazy wine funnel / beer bong-looking device and informed us that if we wanted a ride home, we had to chug out of it. Mayhem ensued.

The boys at Bugarach



The carving...

... and the drizzling.

Nathalie takes down the wine funnel. Will seems extremely impressed.

Back to the square for another set of beers (are you sensing a pattern here???). Feedback was solicited on the trip so far, and we struggled to come up with a few criticisms along the lines of "The beers could be a degree colder" or "Perhaps we could arrange for some cloud cover around 2pm each day?". Award time was next up, and Matt donned his famous "Hat of Justice" (actually, an astray) which renders him completely impartial and unable to play favorites. Jerome, although strong all week, won "bonk of the day" on Montsegur. Tom won rider of the day. Matt won the KOM award by sprinting to the top of the big climb.

Tomorrow is a rest day and it seems everyone needs it.

The Cathedral in Limoux at night.

The Hat of Justice emerges

Montsegur

A pretty tough day on the bike today. As usual it was smoking hot and we seemed to do our most difficult climb in the afternoon heat. But everyone managed it well and we had an excellent day riding a long loop from Limoux out to the ancient cathar stronghold at Montsegur and back. We left Limoux in a different direction today and were promptly greeted with two 1,000'-ish climbs -- the Col du Villa and the Col de Festes. From what we've seen, the grades around Limoux are not terribly steep and great for longer tempo climbing. I'm sure that will change later in the week when we head to the higher Pyrenees.

Leaving Limoux

Jerome and Tom heading towards the Col du Villa

Jerome and Paul at the Col de Festes

Descending to Puivert

We passed through Puivert and began a long steady climb up towards Montsegur. The mountains and landscape are more dramatic here. Rolling hills give way to steep canyons and increasingly higher peaks. Eventually the road pitches upwards and the climb to the Col du Montsegur begins in earnest. Matt and I enjoyed a bit of friendly competition and rode hard up the climb. Near the top, I attacked way too soon and ran out of gas 250m short of the col. Matt spun past and took the polka dot jersey. At this point we were pretty spent, and a truce was soon declared. Robert was waiting at the top, and the others soon followed.

Riding up the valley with Montsegur towering above

Looking down on Paul from one of the huge switchbacks

Having dropped me again, Matt pulls over the Col du Montsegur. Robert looks on.

Matt and Rich

Hydration stop

Descending from Montsegur. Very fast

We rode down for a coffee stop to Levelanet, start town of Stage 12 of this year's Tour de France. The hottest climb of the day followed as we ascended straight into the sun over the Col St. Benoit. Our reward was a relatively easy spin through the sunflower fields back home.

C'est magnifique!

Sunflower fields

More sunflowers

Steve crossing the bridge back in Limoux

Profile and map of today's ride.

Ride to the Sea

Last night we dined at a local farmhouse up in the hills with sweeping views out across the valley. A massive pate terrine kicked off yet another great meal, followed (of course) by beers enjoyed outside in the square.


Today's ride was a 70mi one-way to the sea, ending on the beach at Leucate. We had two pretty good climbs and many "small rises", which is how our guide Paul describes everything that is more than a 100' bump but less than a Tour de France hors categorie climb. It was a great day to say the least, even though Matt wilted on the Col du Cantaloup following yesterday's strong effort (ok, that was a joke). The ride took us through several climate zones, starting in the vineyards of the Aude and ending among the olive trees in the hills above the Mediterranean.


Today's coffee stop was in Villerouge, at the edge of the moat of an ancient Cathar castle. The sight of ten high end bikes (ok Peter, maybe just nine) leaning against the wall of the square attracted a fair amount of attention from the local cycling cognescenti. One guy walked along the line staring at each bike admiringly. Then he got to the White Princess and of course pronounced it his favorite.


The finish at Leucate was amazing. While most of us changed into proper swimsuits to take a dip in the sea, Martin donned an atrocious speedo. I didn't have my camera on me, but fortunately I had a tourist snap a photo of Martin and email it to me:

I have been accused of having a bit of a map fetish (It has been suggested that my internet dating profile read simply: "My name's Rich, and I like maps"). So at the risk of yet more ridicule, I present today's map and ride profile.

The gang at the farmhouse.

Rich and Matt head up the Col de Villerouge.

Paul shares a few stories at our mandatory coffee stop.

The Dixons demonstrate why Villerouge is French for the "City of Brotherly Love"

Local man checking out the BMC, before pronouncing to us that his favorite was Le Princess Blanc

Team Endurance

Vineyards give way to olive trees as we approach the Mediterranean.

Climbing the Col de Feuilla.

At the top.

Downhill to the Sea.

Arriving at Leucate, quite possibly the best finish to a ride ever.

A little bit of everything

Today was unbelieveable. Probably the best day I've ever spent on a bike. We rode an 80 mile loop from Limoux over several cols, through an insane river gorge and countless perfect little hamlets.

We pushed off at 8am, rode to Quillan and climbed the Col Saint-Louis. A long 12km gradual gradient with looming ridges to both sides. Quite a nice climb on this side of the pass. Yet the other side of the pass had our jaws drop at the scenery. A very steep descent down the mountainside, through huge limestone formations and outcrops. Large aqueduct-style bridges across the valley. Sweeping views out to the Pyrenees. And not a single car. Down at the valley floor, the group set a blistering paceline into St. Paul, where (as civilized people must do) we stopped for an espresso in the town square.

Next up was a short climb to the entrance to the Gorges de Galamus. Wow, what a sight this was. A several thousand foot deep gorge with a half-lane road blasted out of the side of the canyon. This led us up a bit farther to the Col de Bancarel. Then, of course, another climb -- the Col de Linas. This pass had the added bonus of some very nice pine trees for the top fourth of the climb.

At the bottom, the group split with one heading back to town, and the other tackling one more climb. Clearly the smarter group headed back into town. The remaining idiots -- Matt, Rich, Jerome and our fearless leader Paul, climbed the Col de Valmigeres. Since it was now the hottest part of the day, I was dismayed to find nary a tree or any shade cover for the entire 1,600' climb. To make matters worse, Matt decided that today of all days would be the day he dropped me like a stone -- left to whimper in his contrails as I fought for every breath. And did I mention it was hot? Near the top, Matt rode back down to take my photo. Obviously feeling quite smug, he told me "I like to shoot all of my victims." Bastard.

A nice 20km series of descents brought us back to town. Beers, sandwiches and naps were had (in that order). Tonight we will be hosted at a local farmhouse for dinner. I'm hungry.

The group prior to take off.

(From L to R: Rich, Matt, Martin, Jerome, Tom, Peter, Robert, Mike, Steve and Will)

Rich at the Col Saint-Louis

Descending the Col Saint-Louis

Looking back up.

Tom contemplates the utter ridiculousness of stopping off for a spot of espresso in yet another picture perfect french village.

Peter enters the Gorges de Galamus.

The peleton exits the Gorges.

Descending the Col de Linas to the town of Bugarach.

Jerome and Paul on the last push to the summit of the Col de Valmigeres.

Map and profile of today's ride.

1am

... and just returned from the town square in Limoux after several beers. We had a great last 36 hrs from our last stop in London. Yesterday afternoon, we flew into Toulouse, the home of Airbus Industrie. In a bit of American imperialism, we did so on a Boeing 737. Upon landing, we met up with Jerome and Peter, then boarded a city bus for downtown. We were quite the vision as we disembarked with our bike cases in the middle of town.



After finding and checking into our hotel, we took it upon ourselves to explore every single square in Toulouse, having a beer in each. Toulouse is a pretty neat town -- very friendly people, great weather, pretty location on the river, nice bars, etc.



Waking up a bit hung over, we explored the markets and cafes of Toulouse. When you see the spreads of bread, cheese, charcouterie, etc., it becomes somewhat comical how much we rave about the ferry building farmers' market in San Francisco. We drank a few espressos, explored the food markets and walked along the river while waiting for our friends from Montfaucon to pick us up.

Rental Velos in Toulouse

Well, we finally did make it to Limoux, a sleepy little town but perfectly set in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The Aude River flows right past Montfaucon where we are staying. Stunning setting.
We built up our bikes and rushed out for our first ride. Paul led the way under scorching skies, while Natalie followed behind. A short 35 shakedown mile ride to flush the legs and make sure the bikes were dialed in. Much fun was had.

Ride map and profile of today's ride.

Heading to Limoux, France

There's ten of us from the SF bay area heading to Limoux in the south of France to enjoy some of the best cycling on offer -- as well as a healthy amount of good food and drink. Limoux sits at the foot of the Pyrenees, within easy striking distance of some classic rides and TdF climbs.

We're now sitting in London's Gatwick Airport, having made it here relatively unscathed from San Francisco. Steve and I met Matt at SFO where we did some last minute organizing of the bike cases.

Matt arranged for a quasi-"sponsorship" of our trip from our friends at Clif Bar and showed up at the airport with a case literally stuffed with various gels, blocs, bars and drink mixes. To avoid an overweight baggage charge (more on that later....), Matt spread the load among the three bike boxes.

Matt's bike is in there somewhere

At check-in, I was fully expecting to pay a $125 fee to check my bike box in. I was pleased to be charged only the $50 "overweight" fee, rather than the $125 "huge ass box" fee. Feeling smug, I asked Matt how much he was charged. "Zero". Shit!

"Hey Steve, what about you?"

"Zero."

OK, so the trip hasn't even started, and already I'm $50 down. And I have a middle seat in coach to boot. A look of panic creeps across Matt's face when he realizes he has no seat assignment, just the dreaded "Departure Management Card" they assign to stragglers on oversold flights. Could our fearless leader actually get bumped from the flight? As Matt goes on ahead to charm his way onto the plane, Steve and I enjoy our last burritos before heading to the land of wine and cheese. When we spot Matt heading back from the podium with what appears to be a boarding pass, he is all smiles.

"Business Class Upgrade."

On an oversold flight. At the height of summer travel season. On a freakin' Orbitz ticket! Unheard of. After the free bike box check-in and the business class upgrade, Matt is immediately dubbed "the Chosen One". I vow to let him take point in all future customer service agent interactions.

The flight to Heathrow went pretty quickly, and then a painless transfer to Gatwick, where we now sit waiting for our connection to Toulouse. Tomorrow we head to Limoux and our first short ride...