Geno EJ Sajko Photography

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Day 21 - Sunday - Freewheeling vacation begins - Day 01 - St. Remy

We said our goodbyes to Aida, sweet lady; and left a box on stuff (non cycling related clothing) with her

that we will pickup next week. Philippe (from Freewheeling) picked us up in the van for the 40 minute or so drive to St. Remy. Once there, we had half an hour to get our rooms, get dressed and get out for the bike fitting. We installed my pedals and computer and we were on the road around noon. We also met our cycling companions, Dan and Jen, from St. John NB. They are much younger than us and so will give us a run for our money, ie. we have no chance.

Out of the gate, down the driveway, turn right, and climb the mountain, cold turkey. It was a winding one lane road, the climb just over 3km. A couple of km's later we visited Les Baux. It was a castle type thing atop a mountain of course. Very busy today. Very crowded. They were doing full costume enactments of battles and what not. We skipped the show and climbed one of the two peaks of the ruins for a fantastic view of the land. It seemed kid of pointless to climb down and then back up the other

one a mere 100 meters or so away. The ruins were just that, the original surfaces were still there, so the climbs were not on typical stairs, but sloped ramps, tall stairs, wide stairs, you name it. Challenging (esp in bike shoes) yet worth it.

From here we cycled down the hill, always a relief; but, not as easy as one might think since we do not know the roads and they are windy. So hands are on the brakes or at the ready at all times. Then of course, one knows that once the fun ends at the bottom, there is but one way to go. Back up another hill. And that "nother" hill was a steep good 6km on my odometer.

Did I mention the weather, yet another sunny sunny day in France. Cool in the morning, around 12-14C and then into the 20's by noon. Sun screened sparsely

today and got a bit too much sun.

As we cycled, we skipped a monastery and cathedral; no biggy, there is always another one around the corner in France, Croatia, probably anywhere in Europe. We then came across some Roman ruins predating Christ, called the Ruins de Glanum. Locked the bikes to a post, and went for a short explore. At this location is also a historic mental hospital where Van Gogh spent some time, got some of his inspiration and painted some of his works. In the yard, I looked up at two trees. They were very tall. On the ground below them were some tomato looking fruit, squashed by their impact with the ground. So I said "Hey Lisa, look tomato trees". I couldn't stop the brain from passing these stupid words to the lips. "Look a tomato tree". We asked the girl inside what they were, they were called kaki - or persimmon. Who would have guessed. Yes I know, my guess wasn't

that good.

We then unlock the bikes, get ready to ride, and here came Dan and Jen and Philippe. They stayed to explore, while Philippe (who we learned later repaired a flat for Jen) joined us for the ride back, with a quick stop in for a lemon ice cream, of course. We hadn't eaten since 0830. Once back, it was around 5pm or so with dinner planned for 7:30. Warm showers were in order. Strange, I hadn't seen a duck all day. Something's up. The word is out.

The ride today, a half day, was a mere 24km.

At dinner, we were told the chef had prepared a meal for us. So ordering was not necessary. Hmm. It was seafood (scallops rolled in salmon), so Lisa asked for meat. Meant I was not having duck. When they brought the food, the hair on my neck tingled, something smelled fishy. Lisa's meat was "duck". So I was having duck after all. After day four, 3.66 ducks. Let's just round up. Off to bed, breakfast at 0730, AIS (ass in seat) at 0900, 65 km ride tomorrow.

Day 22 - Monday - Cycling - Day 02 - La Bastide de Gordes (1/2)

Breakfast and then AIS 0900. Off we went, in two pairs, the young and the restless (us). Since we were also the "old", we fell quickly behind. Oh and guess what, we do the same 3km climb right off the bat. Fair enough, it was easier today. Then the map error. Yesterday leaving Les Baux, at the bottom of the hill, the map said go left. Today the map said and I quote "Keep straight (not right or left at cross roads)". So we did, and within 20 minutes

we were off track that took us near an hour (and 7 or so km) to recover from, by map reading and asking people. We did not want to back track as who knows which left we should have taken. Anyway, once back on track we started a very steep climb through what looked like ritzy estate homes with olive fields.

Philippe came by after a while, so we knew we were back on track, well, we knew anyway, but it is always nice to see the van. We passed a nice town called Eygalieres. Around 1pm Philippe had lunch prepared in the garden on a Winery. Classy! So first we went inside, tasted a couple of wines, and then bought our favourite. Lunch was fantastic.

Fresh salad, meats (one a greasy artery congesting sausage like my dad makes, yummy), fresh breads, cheeses, diet Pepsi, and dark chocolat. Philippe even got out a meat grinder and ground some coffee for the coffee drinkers - impressive!

We then rode through small bike path-like roads, yet they were 1 lane 2 direction roads. The cool thing about cycling in France. Cars and bikes going in both directions actually share, and share nicely, the road. Everywhere you look you see road bikers, in groups or alone. And you see young and old alike on other bikes.

Like I said a nice place to bike. One of the reasons, all the roads are paved. Back home, the major highways are paved and auto congested. All the bake roads are gravel - not road bike friendly.

Anyway, we followed primarily a blue sign with a cyclist on it. It was the only real way to navigate. Here again, the instructions were a bit wanky in places. Anyway the weather was warm, clear, and sunny. The roads windy, shaded, meandering through woods and neighbourhoods. After two days in Provence, my initial recommendation, if you want to cycle France, do the Dordogne-Lot route. Much greener, nicer roads, more to see. Much is dry and a

rid here, mountains as backdrops. They say it never rains here. Well at least not 300 days a year on average. Remember, since this is a blog, you will always get initial reactions, gut feelings. You'll here how I felt when I felt it. So regarding Provence, my opinion may change.

My bike's chain came off a few times today. Drive train needs an overhaul. Philippe did some quick on the road adjustments that did the job, but he is going to reset the gears tonight. Many gears had chain rub, noise, slipping. Like my friend Jim's bike.

Then came the final climb, approximately 10km in total length, the 3 km I'd call the

big one, up to La Bastide de Gordes. What a big climb. Lisa vanned the last 3km of it. I made it, got some great photos along the way. What a vista. Spectacular. Hmm. Tomorrow we do a loop, ie we stay here another night, so the start will be down hill; but the day will end in the same big climb. I've got a workaround for that.

Dropped off the bike, went to the room. Today's ride was 75km for a day two total of 99km. Was told take the elevator and hit -2. In Europe, 0 is ground. Always. 1 is up one, -1 is down one. Simple. Not like in Canada and the US

where ground could be L, G, M, 1, UL. Who the hell knows. Even in my office, you enter the building on 2, I work on 3. I can't count the number of times even after 12 years in that building that I hit 1 when going to to leave. NO I do not usually use the elevator, maybe that's why I can't remember it? Anyway, weird, room is down 2. WHAT A ROOM!!! Took me over an hour with photo stops to do that last 3km uphill, so Lisa was already enjoying a hot bath, after a cool refreshing swim just outside one of our doors which opened onto a lawn poolside. We had a door onto the lawn with a pool. Like only our room and maybe one other did that. So then for me, a quick swim was in order. What a view from the pool. I said to Lisa great we have this room for 2 nights, let's tell Philippe that

we'll stay here until Sunday and he can come back and retrieve us then. LOL.

Tonight we were on our own for meals, se we decided to go simple. No 7 course meal, no wine, something light. We went for Pizza. I wanted beer, it wasn't on the menu and so my darling wife tried to convince me there was no beer. I had a beer. So did she. The the big salad, one that George on Seinfeld would be envious of. It was piled high with lettuce, thinly cut ham similar to Dalmatian ham or something my dad would serve, large and many slices of cheese and tomatoes. We shared it. Then got individual pizzas, not because we could eat one each, we knew better, but we each wanted our own toppings. France does not know how to make Pizzas. This wasn't our first attempt, but may be our last. It was good, it was tasty, but it is NOT pizza. Then I had a small lemon ice-cream, asked for the 3 scooper of course, I think got 6. And with whipped cream on top. Lisa has some coffee, chocolat thing, she enjoyed it.

And that was day two of cycling. What a way to see the country. And we were see more (or less) tomorrow.

Day 23 - Tuesday - Cycling - Day 03 - La Bastide de Gordes (2/2)

I know I entered a one liner an hour or so ago saying I was skipping the blog today. Well,

not so, the show must go on. Today was like a Friday the 13th. The weather was sunny and bright, a bit cool in the morning. Explored the town after breakfast so we were an hour late setting out (Lisa and I); Dan and Jen were long gone. A nice descent and a short ride later we climbed into the village of Rousillon to walk around and photograph the nice pastel colors of all the buildings (made from natural stone in the area). That bagged another hour or so. So now we were a good 2 hours behind. And we need to ride 45km in two hours (climbed again into several towns and villages, and visiting them) in order to join Dan and Jen for

lunch.

Lisa's knee was acting up a bit, but more than that, she wasn't feeling good. She was feeling week, coughing, sore throat, the full meal deal.

We opted for a pickup and went to visit Gignac, which we were told was worth the photo op. Small village, color shutters and doors on the houses; and I've been photographing doors and shutters all trip. So after a quick stop, off to the picnic site. At the picnic, my memory card read full, et let me take another shot.

Well to make a long story short, I may have lost all photos from early this morning to now. I might have a few more tricks when I get home, but changes are (my opinion) they will not work. If you are a techie or interested in the order of events and want to know exactly what happened to me, click here.

Our original plan was to ride to here, the new plan was to ride from here. But Lisa was just not strong, too weak to ride in comfort, so I suggest we skip today and be ready tomorrow. This would give us time to explore further La Bastide de Gordes. But Lisa fell asleep on the bed and I let her be.

For dinner we were on our own again today, two days in a row, a bit weird. Lisa wanted only a little food so we looked around and ended up in the pizza joint again. The sky now had some clouds in the sunset sky, making the sky pastel like. I still a bit miffed on the camera/memory card thing refused to take any camera with me so the sky is only recorded in my mind. And knowing me, by tomorrow it will be, as Chicago would sing, "gone long gone". Dan and Jen happened in a bit later and we have a great dinner together getting to know each other all more more. They are really nice people! Lisa had pizza. I had the big salad, duck (5) and lemon ice-cream, actually sherbet as you already know. As we walked the long walk home (across the street), the sky was clear, the stars were out. As if there never were clouds earlier.

Tomorrow is another day, will have to watch the camera closely, and hope for some luck. Here are some photos of the day taken after the "incident".

Oh did I mention, Dan and Jen, not only did the 95km today, but then they went off on a an extra credit ride with Philippe for an additional 25km. Nice to be young and in the great shape they are in... :)

And here are a few random images from the past...

Day 24 - Wednesday (October 1st) - Cycling - Day 04 - Trip to Sault

A bit warmer this morning, near 15C. We decided to hop on the van and get driven to Benasque (about 15km along the route). On the way, we descended the rock that we were on while enjoying the view of the monastery and lavender fields below. Too bad they were greyish, Philippe says we need to be here

end June early July to see the fields of purple.

Once in Benasque, walk the town, took a few photos, and off we went. We started out with another descent, and a bit chilly at that. Being up a bit high and in the shadow of the mountains. As we rode through several towns and villages, the ride mostly flat; as every other day the heat turned on and it got warm. But a nice warm. Just slightly toasting the skin, actually toasting it without you realizing it because in the shadows the temperature was not as warm.

Then we started the

climb of Gorges de Nesque, Philippe was waiting at what we thought was the top with the picnic lunch, a mere 5km climb. Great lunch as always. Then off again to ride up and alongside the cliffs of these mountains. We rose to an altitude of over 830 meters, the ride between 17 and 21 km, depending on who you ask. The whole time, in the outside lane, along the cliff's edge. For most of it, no guard rail. And when the token guard rails appeared, they were the usual France hilly highway guardrails made of natural stone to a height of a foot and a half. Enough to save the bike should you hit it - as you topple down into the - but I digress. The ride was up and down, and around as we traversed the rock. You could see the road behind and ahead as you cycled. In the background all day was Mont Ventoux, Friday's climb, which by the way I will be going around. But Mont Ventoux was a beacon.

We saw it yesterday off in the distance, and today we saw it in the distance to the left and as we cycled we went to its right. We got closer and closer, and will more so soon. The cap of the mountain is white, not snow, but stone. It is quite the site, especially from, where my story left off, the side of the mountain that we were climbing.

Lisa was impressive today. Still hacking and coughing, but a trooper, not wanting to select the van for the day. And she says that while she was working the hills, pushing hard, the breathing was easier

than when she stopped. For the most part she was ahead of me. I stopped often to try and get some good photos, tough though, since there is nothing between the camera and the bottom of the Gorges or even the cliff on the other side. So we'll see.

Once at the top, we descended, but a mere 200 or so meters, rode some flat land, then head for Sault. Yep, towns were built on hills, so a steep climb to end the day.

We checked in, our stuff was in our rooms, and headed for a jacuzzi and swim. From the jacuzzi, inside a gazebo, you could see Mont Ventoux in the distance. No internet connection here that I can find so you won't be reading this today. The owner of inn likes cyclist so he is having a special meal prepared for us tonight. Hope there is something Lisa can eat. Hope there's duck. Oh, did I mention I had foie gras at the picnic lunch yesterday. Wonder if that counts. Today's ride was 50km for a total of 163km so far.

Dinner was nice, a set menu. I had foie gras and roast chicken. Nuff said.

Go to Day 25

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