Today is my last day in the Lot as tomorrow I transition to the Cevennes-Ardeche and even to my mind - untutored as it is in France's geography - this sounds like the south. Today is a day of climbing and elevation as I start at over 400m above sea level and reach the maximum altitude of the tour so far hitting 1,022m on the Col du Goudard with a figure close to that in overall climbing. The Tour Du Gevaudan uses some of today's climbs so I will no doubt be imagining myself in the action though as the Friends theme tune goes "It's like you're always stuck in second gear" and that will be me at best. My last real look at the Lot in St-Geniez d'Olt.
Last night there were owls hooting from afar and a scuffling noise near my tent. It brought to mind the Beast of Gevaudan that terrorised this area centuries ago. The beast, probably a wolf, was responsible for over a hundred human deaths; this is no mere legend. Trying to put a more rational view forward for my night scuffling noises I decided it was the mole advancing though I had deliberately pitched out of tunneling range. Turns out the mole had advanced quite far but my mystery night-time guest was a hedgehog.
Speaking of hope, there is a risk the theme of this adventure could drift from the original idea of hope to one of my building fear of Ventoux so I turn to Rossetti to get me back on track. I don't have a perfect memory but it didn't take long to find this.
"Hope is like a harebell trembling from its birth,
Love is like a rose the joy of all the earth;
Faith is like a lily lifted high and white,
Love is like a lovely rose the world's delight;
Harebells and sweet lilies show a thornless growth,
But the rose with all its thorns excels them both."
Christina Georgina Rossetti
Admittedly hope is playing third fiddle here to the second fiddle of faith, and of course love triumphs over all. But hope was in the running. Here hope is depicted as a delicate force like that beat of a butterfly's wing that makes a big difference. Rossetti was a devout Christian so faith was important to her. She also had suitors and I think once was engaged but never married and themes of love come through in her poetry. What is interesting is that here she puts love before faith. Is she saying that love triumphs over faith for the general population or for her specifically? Interestingly Christina Rossetti reference lilies and lilies of the field quite a bit in her poetry and maybe we can come back to that.
The day starts well with blue skies and fantastic views; it was going to be a good day and the route starts on a quiet road trundling past remote houses.
The first challenge was a little off-road adventure and I was up for some fun.
The adventure soon became a journey into the heart of darkness from which there seemed no escape. I won't provide a detailed account but will say simply that I had a bad time if it. A very bad time of it.
I finally escape my torment and quickly find a suitable bathing place so the bike and I can get cleaned up. We both get a good scrub from knees down. I eat and drink and having depleted the power in my legs before the real work of today has started I make a plan. Look after myself, go slow, keep the bike moving as much as sensible and in this way try and recover my legs ready for the climbing ahead. It wasn't the best plan but it was the only one I had.
It was a good road as I set off and reasonably flat for a while which helped the recovery process; my plan was working. Says he with some genuine surprise.
I noticed someone had the same bike as me; snap!
A town that would have been worth a pause if time had allowed.
I can't remember when the climbing starts and am about to stop and check when the road threw up the answer. No translation required.
Then 100m on something more specific.
Fully loaded with camping gear I made it up with just three 100m segments where walked. Great views which don't show up that well.
I have mentioned the pirate before so couldn't resist these shots.
After a speedy but safe decent I was shocked to see another smaller and less steep climb which looked worse on the map than in reality.
Looking at my stats, which I don't do that often, I see six and a half hours on the bike covering 45 miles. I remember when I was being given a bike fit they said it would need to be comfortable enough to ride for 8 hours. At the time I had looked aghast but now I see the point. I also see the Lowest Point: is recorded as 490m. That doesn't come close to describing just how low things got today, but with a little bit of planning and a pannier full of hope anything is possible.
