The highlight for today will be Rocamadour. It is an option for pilgrims following the camino from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to detour to Rocamadour to visit the rocky tomb of Saint Amadour; you can see what they did there and this is way before Brangelina. Here is a view of what's to come.
I wake early and with the cool mist and climbing ahead I fancy a hot breakfast. Coffee followed by pasta with dried chanterelle mushrooms and a knob of truffle butter. With mushroom soup and extra seasoning it works well. Cooking on the ground is fine and I usually start to pack up while things are cooking but it's always nice when there is a picnic bench or somewhere to sit and eat and at 7:30am I'm the only breakfaster.
Much camp craft wisdom goes into where to pitch your tent. Ground that is sheltered from gales, not liable to flooding, point your tent into the wind, catch the morning sun and so on. I have developed my own wisdom and, being a man of a certain age, I pitch as close to the Sanitaires as possible.
The climb out of the Dordogne valley is long, gradual and dare I say quite enjoyable. I try and practice some Ventoux busting moves such as bottom gear, slow, even slower, and take the first coffee break that presents itself.
This is the last I will see of the Dordogne river.
And this is where the climb out of the Dordogne starts.
Then I leave the Dordogne valley.
As I approach Rocamadour it is an aching shoulder that prompts me to pause at a viewing point and how glad I am as the views are spectacular. A long range view of the Rocamadour cliff and a broad valley view.
I chat to two women doing the same Nice trip over coffee and snacks and they recommend spending time exploring the Rocamadour medieval complex. Black Madonas are a thing and I take a photo though mainly to pass to the women who missed that specific photo opportunity.
Once in the complex it is difficult getting a decent photo composition but I aimed to show the vertical nature if it.
Then once I've climbed out of Rocamadour I am rewarded with more stunning panoramic views.
If you like a gnome you will adore these. The perspective may be confusing so let me say that the house in the background is a grown-up ptoper sized house.
This house is for the 7 dwarfs, sorry, 7 gnomes.
The plan for my night at Gramat was a real farm campsite, eco and back to nature and all that. When I arrived there was no information on who or how to pay and no easy indication of the shower block. The pitches were covered in sheep s**t and the buildings that probably housed facilities had tarpaulins draped over them. My attempt to find someone was met by a barking dog. I had planned for this type of issue and referring to my operations manual I wasn't surprised to see that this was a code red.
With no Municipal campsite or equivalent nearby I turned and fled back to central Gramat walking into a hotel reception with my bike after checking prices online. With a supermarket nearby to stock up for the Sunday/Monday closures and food to be had in town I was back on track. It was a shame about the campsite but this does seem like a pattern; people setup their good idea, no one comes and it is left to rot.
In an interview with cycling journalist Jeremy Whittle it was Lance Armstrong who said that 'I consider the Ventoux the hardest climb in France'. In his words the other climbs don't compare. The only glimmer of hope for me is that I will try the route up from Sault which has a 5% climb over the 20k from Sault to Chalet Reynard then it is a 10% gradient for the final 6k; very approximately.
It was Eric Caritoux who said that people ride up from Sault so they can say "I climbed the Ventoux". If I make it up the Ventoux I certainly won't feel bad about saying that I climbed the Ventoux, ... from Sault. My hope is that I get something from the ride. If I can test myself and achieve the goal that will be success. If I don't make it then I will have learnt something about myself and my limits. For me its a win-win.
My Tour de France viewing happened in the late 90's when Marco Pantani was showing the world how to climb on a bike and I guess I've always had him as my favoured Top Trump card in the pack of cyclists. Seriously, they should do a Top Trump pack of cyclists, or rather two packs, male and female. With climbing, sprint, time trialling just to list a few, there are lots of qualities to go for. I'll try and come back to Marco but for now as I've mentioned Lance it is beholden on me to state my position which is that yes he got it wrong (in common with most of the peleton and the wider cycling profession), he confessed and said sorry publicly and took the hit while cycling's systems and organisations were left unscathed. If you are interested in Lance then have a look at the Foundation he founded.
Having mentioned Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong in connection with Ventoux it feels timely to recount the events of 2000 when these two power houses were battling it out to the summit and Lance who had control of the Tour as a whole held back to allow Marco to take the stage win uncontested. There are many quirks of Grand Tour racing but one of these is the sense of fairness and sharing out of the work and the rewards. Of course Marco was not happy and would have preferred to race it out to the finish and win on merit.
This board just outside Gramat seemed to sum up today's thoughts (and my determination on the long hills) quite well. I only saw it as I had stopped mid-ride to put some lube on my dry chain.
"Life is like a bicycle, you have to keep advancing so you don't lose your balance."
It was hard finding a photo that typifies Gramat which is quite lively compared to most places on this tour though this one from the old town appeared close. You will have to imagine the stream of people leaving mass from the church behind.
