we cycled over the alps to italy!
the ride north from cassis was the most beautiful section of the ride so far. this ride took us through verdon national park, where we stopped for a day at the grand canyon of france. Then up to Embrun on the lake of Serre-Ponçon for a climb up the ski field road of les orres to visit friends for a few days. after this bodacious break it was a few days of climbing to just beyond the italian border, and then one day of sweet sweet downhill into torino. Staying on the backroads to avoid traffic and better experience the mountains, we afforded ourselves some exra climbs for better or worse through gorgeous scenery. It stayed hot for these days of climbing and both temperature and terrain reminded us of the sierra nevadas in california.
when we were in provence we met a frenchman who said 'if you go anywhere in france, go to verdon, this is where i go for my vacation.' so we went. the gorges of verdon, or the grand canyon of france, form the second largest canyon in the world. as you can imagine the terrain and heat made for some excellently difficult biking. however, rather than bike along the rim we decided to save our legs for days to come. we camped at the lake at the end of the canyon and rented a kayak to explore the canyon. it was quite busy with tourists here, but we got up early and managed to be the first ones up the canyon in our kayak. this was one of our finest moments having these breathtaking rock walls towering around us and all to ourselves.
from the canyon we stayed as traffic free as possible up to les orres. this is when we really felt we were in the alps. on the days up to the lake we had some fairly difficult climbs. then, as we cycled around the west side of the lake we came over a col of about 1100 meters which was insane. then the next day to our friend manu's house we climbed from lake level at 800 meters to the ski station at 1600 m over about 10 ks. it was tough with the loaded bikes. our friends manu and fabio are very cool and excellent hosts. we had a great four days here mostly just hanging out and enjoying staying in a house. there is a ropes course at the resort which we did, quite chalenging and excellent fun. this break not only gave our bodies a rest but also our bikes, and i replaced our breakpads which, after 2500 ks were worn to the nub!
rain showed up again for the first time in weeks, but we avoided it by leaving their house in the afternoon. from les orres we stayed high up on little roads above lake level for excelent views above the valley - this is when it felt like we did some unneccessary climbing but it was worth it. before the final push we camped just past briancon. then for our crossing day we cycled insanely up from there to the col de montgenevre then insanely down then insanely up again to sestriere in italy. cycling over the alps lived up to expectations and was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. plus, it reminded me why id been dragging a fleece, thermals and a beenie around the south of france in the heat of summer - they came in handy!
on the italian side the alps just drop. no gradual build up of foothills like in france. no days of up and down. just a 50 km decent through beautiful mountains and small towns. after these 50 ks the flat expanse of a valley finds its way to torino. looking back at the wall of mountain we'd just cycled over we could hardly believe it possible.
now we're in tuscany!
Friday 30 July 2010
Thursday 22 July 2010
cassis and the calanques
biked a short day to cassis which is on the coast further east from marseille. fantastic. this is what the trip is about. a beautiful little town, we ate ice cream two days in a row, very excessive. camping high above the town next to a fellow english cycle tourer tom whom we chatted with quite a bit and then actually met him on the road again. we had another day off here and walked 2 hrs to the calanque (fijord) en vau. absolutely spectacular, was awesome to do fun active stuff away from the bikes.
marseille
i had expected marseille to be a different place to the one we encountered. We biked 10 ks through the urban sprawl before reaching the centre. pretty much the most stressful biking ever. a woman who turned out to be a fellow cycle tourist talked to us from her car at an intersection and told us that biking in marseille was terrifying. not too far wrong. It was the most multi cultural place i've visited, lots of africans, arabs and had quite a latino feel too. very full on busy loud place after nice tranquil countryside. we walked around quite overwelmed for a bit before we decided to take a boat to chateau d'if the prison that featured in the novel the count of monte cristo. then over to a nearby island where we skinny dipped in the sea and got the city out of our system. stayed a night in a hotel and left the next morning
was a good experience but not one i'd repeat
was a good experience but not one i'd repeat
Thursday 8 July 2010
old new (s)
This morning we woke in septemes on the outskirts of marseilles. we left the camp at 745 to head into the city. cycling down through the sprawl we coast past cafes and shopfronts coming to life.
the city. big. fast.
there is no good way to cycle into a big city - once you're in you can cycle around fine, but to get from the outside in, there aren't small little roads going into big cities. big roads go into big cities. I think 'they' should make bike highways linking towns and cities. not just cycle lanes pushed to the edge of the cars road, but whole roads just for the bikes.
as we get closer to the heart of marseilles the local shopfront bustle gives way to more busses and cars, massive highrises, and swarms of tourists. with my touring bike i cant help but feel like an outsider, somewhat detatched from the city, yet observing from within. for the past month as we've cycled across france, our existence has been closer to rocks and trees than concrete and glass.
so there we are in the concrete jungle with all our wordly possessions strapped to push bikes, surounded by suits with breif cases, beggars with mcdonalds cups, tourists viewing the world through digital camera screens, and everyone in between, all playing to the orchestra of engines and horns and sirens and I stand there with my bike like a statue of a man with a bike soaking it all up thinking: 'how did i get here?'
...well
this trip began with an idea over a year ago to travel from madrid to croatia in a vw van. the idea grandually and continually changed forms and took shape until we decided to cycle from dieppe in the north of france to dubrovnik in croatia.
after all the planning and gear getting we began our trip in peacehaven england on the morning of may 31st. after taking the ferry across to france we spent the night close to dieppe and began cycling on the 1st of june.
our time in the north of france seems so far away now, and our experiences there so different it almost seems like a different country. from dieppe we travelled west along the siene river to the sea at hornfleur and along the normandy coast for a few days. From here we began the long journey south. It took 4 or 5 days to reach the loire valley. After following the loire river for a short stint we continued south, changing our original plan to go to bordeaux instead to head straight towards agen over the hill country of the southwest. from agen we unfortunately had to take a train to carcasonne, as we were running out of time to meet up with frineds there.
some breif info on these sections... the sienne river as it winds to the coast made for atractive easy biking. we saw a few french cyclists here, indicating its worthiness as a cycle spot. we crossed the river a few times on free car ferrys. had a conversation with an old french woman leaning out her front door in a really cool looking old street. us not understanding her and her not us. On the coast of normandy we camp by juno beach, where the canadian troops landed on d-day. we were there on the 6th and attended a few memorial ceremonies. It was emotional and surreal visiting this historic war zone. on the beach and inland, where the allied progression took place had a strange feeling for me. After having a heat spell on the coast the rain began. It was cold and felt like it rained all the way to the loire. Morale got a little low here as our will to cycle was continually beaten down by the rain and the cold. however, we did enjoy the frequent friendly small towns of the north and seeing ruins and castles seemingly everywhere. The loire was excellent. We had a day off in the town of Blois. Here we saw and met many other cycle tourists on various journeys at various speeds. it was inspiring to meet other like us. The chateux of this region are sweet. We visited several and went in two in think. just west of the town of tours we began to head south again. this section - between tours and agen - was unplanned and we were surprised by the history and interesting towns we found. The cycling here was a bit more chalenging with many ups and downs. On the way to agen we were cycling about 90 ks a day and it was good when we finally arrived. altough i had wanted to cycle all the way, the train journey was a nice change of pace taking us to a much anticipated break in carcasonne.
and thats where we began blogging...
the city. big. fast.
there is no good way to cycle into a big city - once you're in you can cycle around fine, but to get from the outside in, there aren't small little roads going into big cities. big roads go into big cities. I think 'they' should make bike highways linking towns and cities. not just cycle lanes pushed to the edge of the cars road, but whole roads just for the bikes.
as we get closer to the heart of marseilles the local shopfront bustle gives way to more busses and cars, massive highrises, and swarms of tourists. with my touring bike i cant help but feel like an outsider, somewhat detatched from the city, yet observing from within. for the past month as we've cycled across france, our existence has been closer to rocks and trees than concrete and glass.
so there we are in the concrete jungle with all our wordly possessions strapped to push bikes, surounded by suits with breif cases, beggars with mcdonalds cups, tourists viewing the world through digital camera screens, and everyone in between, all playing to the orchestra of engines and horns and sirens and I stand there with my bike like a statue of a man with a bike soaking it all up thinking: 'how did i get here?'
...well
this trip began with an idea over a year ago to travel from madrid to croatia in a vw van. the idea grandually and continually changed forms and took shape until we decided to cycle from dieppe in the north of france to dubrovnik in croatia.
after all the planning and gear getting we began our trip in peacehaven england on the morning of may 31st. after taking the ferry across to france we spent the night close to dieppe and began cycling on the 1st of june.
our time in the north of france seems so far away now, and our experiences there so different it almost seems like a different country. from dieppe we travelled west along the siene river to the sea at hornfleur and along the normandy coast for a few days. From here we began the long journey south. It took 4 or 5 days to reach the loire valley. After following the loire river for a short stint we continued south, changing our original plan to go to bordeaux instead to head straight towards agen over the hill country of the southwest. from agen we unfortunately had to take a train to carcasonne, as we were running out of time to meet up with frineds there.
some breif info on these sections... the sienne river as it winds to the coast made for atractive easy biking. we saw a few french cyclists here, indicating its worthiness as a cycle spot. we crossed the river a few times on free car ferrys. had a conversation with an old french woman leaning out her front door in a really cool looking old street. us not understanding her and her not us. On the coast of normandy we camp by juno beach, where the canadian troops landed on d-day. we were there on the 6th and attended a few memorial ceremonies. It was emotional and surreal visiting this historic war zone. on the beach and inland, where the allied progression took place had a strange feeling for me. After having a heat spell on the coast the rain began. It was cold and felt like it rained all the way to the loire. Morale got a little low here as our will to cycle was continually beaten down by the rain and the cold. however, we did enjoy the frequent friendly small towns of the north and seeing ruins and castles seemingly everywhere. The loire was excellent. We had a day off in the town of Blois. Here we saw and met many other cycle tourists on various journeys at various speeds. it was inspiring to meet other like us. The chateux of this region are sweet. We visited several and went in two in think. just west of the town of tours we began to head south again. this section - between tours and agen - was unplanned and we were surprised by the history and interesting towns we found. The cycling here was a bit more chalenging with many ups and downs. On the way to agen we were cycling about 90 ks a day and it was good when we finally arrived. altough i had wanted to cycle all the way, the train journey was a nice change of pace taking us to a much anticipated break in carcasonne.
and thats where we began blogging...
Tuesday 6 July 2010
now we are in provence. and it is definitly worth the wait. 2 nights ago we stayed in arles and saw a free show at the roman amphitheatre with regional dancing, horses, and bull chasing. the bull comes out then about 15 young guys run about the ring taunting the bull trying to touch its head, the bull chases them then they take huge leaps out of the ring before the bull gets them. we saw 2 guys get sort of trampled, was pretty crazy. we then biked to st remy de provence and visited the mental hospital where vincent van gough admitted himself and where he painted his most famous paintings like the sunflowers and the starry night. we saw his room, his view and lots about his troubles. was very interesting and special to be there.
today we biked from st remy through st baux de provence to salon de provence, through the appilles mountains. like mini alps. fantastic riding with a steady climb through landscape very lake tahoeisk, pine trees, white rock to the an awesome view of the area. of where we have come and where we were to go. looked down upon the chateau there which we visited. very old broken up cut out of the mountain. the wind today was insane, the camground tells us 75 kph. it would blow u around quite a bit. tommorow we go to just outside marseilles then the next day into the city and will probably stay the night there. hoping to put photos on there. had planned on doing it here but unable. so things are going awesomely. super excited about the biking to come. will be heading into the alps in less than a week!
today we biked from st remy through st baux de provence to salon de provence, through the appilles mountains. like mini alps. fantastic riding with a steady climb through landscape very lake tahoeisk, pine trees, white rock to the an awesome view of the area. of where we have come and where we were to go. looked down upon the chateau there which we visited. very old broken up cut out of the mountain. the wind today was insane, the camground tells us 75 kph. it would blow u around quite a bit. tommorow we go to just outside marseilles then the next day into the city and will probably stay the night there. hoping to put photos on there. had planned on doing it here but unable. so things are going awesomely. super excited about the biking to come. will be heading into the alps in less than a week!
the midi canal
next we spent 3 days on the midi canal, after our first experiences of the towpath, bumpiness, gravel, jarring... it acutally turned out to be some of the nicest biking yet. shady trees, vineyards, huge boats full of bikini clad australians, massive machine operated lochs, way deeper than in england and flat! after a week or so of up and down to get to agen, flat was very welcome. hot, very extremely hot but we were getting into pool country and often our campgrounds now have pools or cold showers. it seems every day is at least 32 and it stays hot well into the night. we sleep with the doors open on our tent to try and get some airflow.
anyway, we rode the canal to the sea on a variety of towpath qualites from sealed to jungle mountain biking. got to the coast and camping a short walk away and swum in the medditeranian. great to get to the coast, a major milestone of the trip
anyway, we rode the canal to the sea on a variety of towpath qualites from sealed to jungle mountain biking. got to the coast and camping a short walk away and swum in the medditeranian. great to get to the coast, a major milestone of the trip
carcassonne
so we left off, we were in Carcassonne about to meet up with jenny and angel. because of a stupid train strike they arrived a day later than expected but it was still such a fantastic time!!! we rented a tent cabin sort of thing at the campground which had its own kitchen, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms and a very welcome pool. carcassone is a great town with the grid like new town - 12th century, yes very new.. and the old town dating back to roman times set at the top of a hill fully walled with towers, a castle and very quaint streets with shops and restaurants. we dined on regional dish cassoulette, watched the world cup match chile vers spain go spain!!! swum and picniked at a lake, rode up the canal. was a very nice break from the cycling, were there 4 days.
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