14 minute read
Hot and hungry on the road to the mountains
The majesty of the mighty Millau “viaduct in the clouds” was a highlight of David Matthews’ marathon ride from St Malo to the foothills of the Pyrenees – but searing heat, and lack of food were the main things on his mind during a blisteringly hot 1,330km solo ride through France in July
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FRANCE WAS HOTin July this year. Very hot. The prediction of temperatures of 40c made me rethink my original plan to fly to Geneva and cycle across the Massif Central at the height of summer, to visit friends in Montmaurin, south-west France. It would have been impossible to acclimatise to the heat.
So my carefully-laid plans were scrapped. I would, instead, sail to St Malo in Brittany, where the temperatures were predicted to be a balmy 25c, rising to 30c by the time I reached the Loire a few days later. These more reasonable temperatures would allow me to acclimatise before I reached hotter climes further south.
The mid-point of the ride would be the famous “viaduct in the clouds” at Millau. I wanted to see this marvel of modern construction myself, even though I knew cyclists weren’t allowed to cross it.
I left Chester by train for Portsmouth on 8 July and took the ferry to St Malo, ready to undertake my sixth solo, unsupported long ride through France.
ST MALO TO EGUZONE-CHANTOME – SIX DAYS, 518KM, 2,100M ASCENT This straightforward route, swinging south-east, served as an excellent hors d’oeuvre, with steady riding over rolling countryside. As ever in rural France I had difficulty getting enough to eat due to the sparsity of cafes and shops, but survived on what I had surreptitiously taken from breakfast and a few muesli bars brought over from England. Eventually I arrived in Eguzone-Chantome during the evening of Bastille Day celebrations, and enjoyed a meal outside on the hotel patio in the midst of it all.
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AUBUSSON – 100KM, 950M ASCENT: The start of the lumpy stuff! My route initially led 50km due south to Aulon. From here I picked up the D10 leading east through delightful countryside towards Aubusson. There is a chilling reminder of WW2 along this road where a monument and plaque commemorate the killing of 31 young people by the Nazis in 1944, just after D-day.
The D10 led me to Pontarion, 18km from Aubusson on the D941 main road. I was getting hot, thirsty and very hungry by this time, 82km into the ride, without finding a single open shop or café to supplement my meagre supplies since leaving the hotel that morning. After finishing my last energy bar and water in a small lay-by some 10km from Aubusson, I gritted my teeth to survive the hot and tiring ride into town. Amazingly, as I rounded the bend just beyond my meagre tea stop, I found a shop selling all manner of goodies – and it was open on a Monday! The final 10km to Aubusson passed much more pleasantly after my refuelling stop.
As I checked into yet another foreign hotel, the owner remarked: “I remember you.” I’d stayed there five years before when riding Manche-Med so I must have made some sort of impression. It made a pleasant change to be recognised and welcomed in this way when on an essentially solo odyssey.
EGLETONS – 88KM, 1,200M ASCENT This is the start of proper hilly stuff. When I phoned my wife the night before, I told her that I’d just done the
hardest day of the ride. How naïve can you get? It was probably the easiest day between Eguzone-Chantome and Montmaurin!
The Manche-Med route from Aubusson follows the boring main road across a plateau some 60km to Ussel. There is an alternative yellow route to Meymac which I’d contemplated using in 2014, but decided against it as there appeared to be no possibility of obtaining any food or drink along this much hillier, remote route. However, emboldened by five years’ experience of these trips, I decided I was now physically and mentally equipped to explore this upland region.
The obvious route from Aubusson to the first stop at Felletin after 10km of climbing follows the main D982, but I was advised by the hotel to take the scenic D23 instead. A wise choice which took me through a beautiful woodland area up to Felletin.
About 10km beyond Felletin, I launched steeply uphill on the D992 through very empty country, eventually arriving at the source of the Creuze river. Here I ate a minimal lunch under the shade of some huge trees before descending to Meymac for more substantial supplies after riding 60km since breakfast.
Yet again I endured the fate of the hungry cyclist in remote France as Meymac turned out to be a dormitory village with no visible shops. I still had 20km further to travel to Egletons and just a few crumbs left to eat. I shook these out of my pockets as I sat in a derelict barn at the side of the main road and then continued, riding on fumes through Soudeilles to my overnight stop in Egletons. Once in the town, I sat down outside a shop to sort out the location of my hotel. A young guy came bounding out of the shop and, rather than complaining that my bike was blocking his shop front, was most helpful giving directions to my hotel.
ARPAJON-SUR-CERE – 109KM, 1,100M ASCENT: The morning was spent enjoying a long descent to the Dordogne river at Argentat. Joy of joys, I found a large supermarket here where I could replenish my travelling stock of muesli bars and purchase enough normal food to enjoy a large lunch while relaxing in the town square. The next 45km to Aurillac on the D120 can only be described as an unpleasant transfer stage. Lots of traffic, lots of climbs, lots of heat and glad to get it over with! Once in Aurillac I got completely lost in major road works which prevented an easy passage to Arpajon, on the south-east side of the conurbation. Eventually the suburb was discovered, following an extensive Franglais and gestures exhibition worthy of “Allo, Allo” in a garage shop.
MANDAILLES – 86km, 1,000m ascent No route-finding problems this morning as it was straight out of the hotel and on to the D920 heading for the Lot Gorges. Climbing was constant for 29km to Montsalvy where I enjoyed an alfresco lunch break in the grounds of a converted castle.
Beyond Montsalvy the road descends for 13km to the start of the Lot Gorges at Entraygues. These gorges are a massive hydro project which have a pleasant road
56 alongside for many kilometres. Eventually I arrived, rather tired and hungry, at St Come d’Olt where I managed to find a shop selling huge ice creams, one of which fortified me for the long climb to follow.
Mandailles is a hamlet overlooking the Lot Gorges some 10km and many metres of climbing above St Come d’Olt. It is well worth the climb, allowing spectacular views over the Gorges and the surrounding hills. In spite of its remoteness, my accommodation in a boutique apartment next to the Auberge, was excellent. It also provided an excellent evening meal. And the staff spoke good English! Idyllic!
There is always one place I remember with great fondness after my long trips. This year there are two – Mandailles and Saint-Rome-de-Tarn. ❝ … As ever in rural France I had difficulty getting enough to eat due to the sparsity of cafes and shops
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SAINT-ROME-DE-TARN – 122KM, 1,300M ASCENT: There were two days on this trip that pushed me right up against my personal limits due to a combination of heat, climbing, distance, route-finding in a foreign language, weight of baggage and accumulated fatigue. This is the first.
As I prepared to leave Mandailles next morning, having manually hauled my laden bike up the 30 per cent gradient main street, I was relieved to note that the first few kilometres would be all downhill to St Geniez. Wrong again, as I climbed up a further three kilometres to the D19 before the 7km descent.
I followed a hilly and complicated route to Severac d’Aveyron which I remembered from a previous trip once I got there. The cycle routes around here are difficult to find, not least as the motorway network to Millau has disrupted many of the minor roads, complicated further as Michelin maps do not always pay much attention to the actual routing of white roads.
The temperature was rising to the mid 30s as I left Severac somewhat cautiously, until I was sure I had found the correct route to Le Massegros to the west of the Tarn Gorges. Here I turned south over barren moors on the D32, where I’d got lost years before. It was very remote, so I felt comforted by having inadvertently visited the area previously. Once over the moors there is a long, rapid descent to Millau, alongside the Tarn Gorges, towards my first sighting of the distant viaduct.
By the time I arrived in town, the temperature had climbed into the upper 30s. My water supplies had almost vanished so I was delighted to make my best ever supermarket purchase – one litre of bottled water for 25 cents. What price a life saver?
The viaduct is not open to cycles. You have to travel under it, which actually resulted in a brutal climb up a dead straight, bulldozed road in the heat of the burning sun for me. By the time I had reached the viaduct and admired its stunning construction, I was feeling very hot and extremely tired.
St-Rome-de Tarn lay just 15km distant. What I didn’t realise was that half of this is climbing, still under a blazing sun. Suffice to say that I arrived at my hotel completely shattered at seven in the evening.
At least 100 people were sitting at trestle tables outside the hotel when I arrived. It was a village fete. The very busy waitress greeted me in perfect English and following a meal I joined in with the fete and enjoyed the excellent rock band playing well into the night. A great experience, helped by the knowledge that torrential rains were forecast for the next morning, so I could sleep in for once.
ALBAN – 69km, 1,000m ascent Next morning dawned cooler with torrential rain as promised. Once the rain had subsided at 10.30am I embarked on the 12km climb up to St Victor above the Lower Tarn Gorges. This climb took 1.5 hours so I was glad to stop for a well-earned coffee in the village.
My route continued to Broquies where I could get some lunch – except that due to my late start, the sole shop was shut. Once again I was back to living on fumes until I reached Trebas in the late afternoon where, to my intense relief, I found a mini supermarket that had remained open.
Prior to Trebas there is a 450m long, narrow tunnel straddling the road, with no way to avoid it. The tunnel has traffic lights for cars and, uniquely in my experience, an extra set of lights to warn motorists when cyclists are in the tunnel. As soon as the tunnel is entered, it curves and immediately shuts out the light. At this point I dismounted as I had no front light, and hugged the side wall to find my way through the tunnel, illuminated by my rear light playing on to the white side walls. Several convoys of cars passed as I made my way through, safe enough thanks to my rear light, without which I would have been forced to retrace my steps several kilometres and make a lengthy detour. There is one more, shorter tunnel down this road, which was avoided by a steep footpath climbing up and around it. Hard work with my loaded bike.
Beyond Trebas, I crossed the Tarn at Villeneuve and commenced the long, hard 11km climb to my overnight stop in Alban. This climb took another 1.5 hours of graft to get into Alban, by which time it was 7.30pm due to my late start and much climbing during the day.
I had some difficulty locating the hotel in Alban and after 15 minutes of fruitless searching and referencing booking.com on my phone, could not locate it anywhere in the town. I then suddenly realised to my horror, a moment in time that will probably haunt me forever, that my hotel was actually 11km back down the hill in Villeneuve sur Tarn. This was not at all obvious on the website and there was no way I was going back down the hill – especially as I would have to climb out again next morning. Even the thought of paying twice for a hotel would not move me back down that hill!
I fortunately found a Logis in Alban itself, where I eventually arrived at 8.00pm. They had a spare room, booked me in and I then had time to recover from a hard day and the shock of not finding my original hotel.
AVIGNONET – 112km, 400m ascent An easy start today as I left the Massif Central with a 30km descent to Realmont. Beyond here is the start of the pre-Pyrenees, so not much relief from the constant climbing. One interesting feature of the villages on today’s route is that their names are displayed in French and Catalan, harking back to the days when Catalonia spread well north of the Pyrenees.
My route south avoided the busy D612 and the town of Castres by cutting east through Lautrec and Semalens to Revel. Here I was well looked after by a very obliging barman who served me iced Coca Cola and iced water for my bottles. Just as well, as the temperature was now rising into the upper 30s.
The extreme heat was making me rather uncomfortable on the bike and I was concerned about getting heat stroke during the next couple of days. So I decided to forgo my much anticipated ride through the Mas d’Azil to St Lizier and ride direct to Montmaurin the next day, the hypotenuse of a big triangle.
The final 30km of today’s ride took me through rolling hills and many miles of sunflower fields to my stay at Aire de Port Lauragais near Avignonet, south-west of
Toulouse. There is a large hotel here with several outdoor activities and a marina, all based on the adjacent Canal du Midi. The hotel is very cyclist-friendly, to the extent that they allowed me to have free drinks with dinner due to a mix-up in the voucher system.
MONTMAURIN – 126km, 1,100m ascent This, jointly with the ride to Saint-Rome-de-Tarn, was up there with my hardest ever days on a bike due to the extreme heat, distance, luggage and constant climbing as I rode west across the foothills of the Pyrenees.
The day started well enough following a 7am start as I rode a very pleasant 10km towards Toulouse on the excellent, shaded cycle path alongside the Canal du Midi. The route then turned west at Gardouche to cover a lumpy 40km to St Sulpice, followed by the first big climb of the day for 10km to reach the wide river Garonne at Marquefave. The sun was blazing down on me by this time so I was fortunate to find plenty of shade and a shop 5km further on at Carbonne.
The next 20km were straightforward, though increasingly hot, as I followed the course of the Garonne south-west on the D10 to Martres-Tolosane. Aurignac was full of road works which diverted traffic round and up some really steep hills in the town. I found a shop on the far side of town where a geriatric lady hesitantly supplied me with cold drinks and water. I must have looked a bit wild to her, sweating profusely in her cosy shop.
The final 27km to Montmaurin contains three big climbs and a final minor climb into the village itself. My friend Dick offered to come and collect me in his car from
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Aurignac, and I was sorely tempted. But I wanted to finish this phase of my cycling career in style.
So eventually, 13 hours after starting that morning, I arrived at my friends’ house – totally shattered. I unhooked the panniers, grabbed a quick shower and sat down to eat with them at 8.30pm. Soon it was off to sleep for 11 hours and a slow recovery during the next few days. My bike remained untouched on the porch for two days until I had the energy to pack it up and fly home to Chester.
Two weeks riding, two hours on the plane and four weeks recovery from minor heat stroke and exhaustion – but an unforgettable experience!
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