Le Massif Central

We knew leaving Le Puy en Velay was going to be hard - 600 metres of slow climbing to our high point for the day. The weather forecast the previous evening was not good - fine weather with very high winds. So we asked a local for his advice. He gave us a report in the evening and a report in the morning.

The day dawned very calm but drizzling. Based on his advice we headed off into the hills. We followed an old railway line for about 30 kms which climbed slowly up into the clouds. The surface on the first part was coarse compact sand which made cycling a little bit harder than planned.

We traversed 5 tunnels, the longest of which was almost 2 kms. French train tunnels are massive compared to the ones in New Zealand. Sally took lots of videos but once again we cannot upload them to YouTube. I loved the tunnels. The were very well lit and it was slightly spooky wondering if a steam train would come around the corner and wipe us out.

Along the way we met three very curious mules who came to greet us.

The second half of the voie verte was light gravel but very loose. This slowed us down even more and we averaged only 6 kms an hour. By now were were well and truly in the clouds and we could hear the local village church bells and smell the fires of nearby houses but could see virtually nothing. Then the cloud lifted and the wind started to get up.

We made the town of Costaros after 4 hours of riding having covered just over 30 kms. We stopped at the local Tabac where the publican was a big rugby fan. When he found out we were from New Zealand we chatted away for a long time until his wife reminded him he had other chores to do. Fabrice gave us a big wave as we left.

The wind was getting stronger and it started raining. Visions of the previous storm came back to us, and after half an hour it was déja vue. But this time we were better prepared. Our clothes were wrapped inside rubbish sacks to try and keep them dry. Several times we had to dismount and walk when the wind got too strong. And in a repeat performance the chambre d’hôte which we found was closed.

We reached the col and headed down into Pradelles to look for accommodation for the night. The first and second places were closed but we found a Gite d’étape where we spent the night. We treated ourselves to dinner and breakfast because we were so cold.

Dinner was fantastic. We both chose steak as our main. The entree was a salad with a whole round of heated goat’s cheese. Crème brûlée was for dessert.

The night was very cold as the heating was not on when we arrived but we managed to dry several things on the heaters overnight.

The next day was the high point of the whole trip. 1321 metres. But again it was cold wet and windy. We crossed a second col which was the continental divide. The Atlantic to one side and the Mediterranean to the other.

The cloud was very thick and visibility was only about 50 metres. We are told it is a stunning view, and based on the few glimpses we got I can believe it.

The descent was 10 kms of 10% slope down the flanks of the upper Ardèche river. After about 8 1/2 kilometres my brakes were literally worn out and I had to dismount and walk the last 1 1/2 kilometres. Sally who had been waiting for me at the bottom was shivering so we got out the silver survival blanket and wrapped it around her, while I searched for some tools to repair the brakes.

Alas and alack the allan key I needed was missing. So we walked on to the next village and stopped for a coffee at the Tabac. Lady Luck shone on us again and the publican had a set of allan keys he lent me to take up the slack in the brakes. Not perfect but better than no brakes. At this point we looked for accommodation but there was none until our planned stop 25 kms away. Fortunately the downhills were much more gradual and the brakes got me to Aubenas.

Our hosts for the night Fabien and Ingrid came and fetched us from McDonalds and we turned up looking like drowned rats. After a quick shower we discovered that our bags had leaked a bit and we had just enough dry clothes to keep us warm. They had a fire on so we dried some more on the rack beside the fireplace.

They very generously asked us to stay an extra day so we could repair the brakes and dry out a little. They cooked us a lovely meal of quiche, salads, fritters etc. which we devoured with great pleasure. We chatted the evening away and went to bed very tired.

The next day we visited (finally) a Decathlon store. When we removed the brake pads all four were just worn to bare metal so we were very lucky they did not damage the rims.
We visited town in the afternoon. Fabian told us about a nice café which turned out to be very like a kiwi café. The Château had multicoloured tiles on the roof and there were good views of the town from within. We loved the atmosphere of the old town and the church.

We cooked spaghetti bolognaise for our hosts that evening, and ate some local cheese from l’Ardèche. The teenagers loved it. Luckily spag bol was their favourite dish.

Fabian kept telling us that it never rains in Aubenas in spring and how unlucky we had been, and that we we would have to come back one day when the weather was fine. We agreed. But we will probably arrive from the other direction to avoid the big hills.