Holiday trail running

We had put off our planned break away because of the dire weather that the south of France has been experiencing over the past week or so. But yesterday it seemed to be clearing, so we took a cross country route down to the coast at Perpignan - it was great to see such a varied and in parts dramatic landscape (in particular around Quillan) that we had never visited before. We then headed along the coast avoiding the autoroute to Beziers and eventually down to the apartment that we had booked near the coast. Pissou this 'ain't! We are in quite a built up environment with the sound of traffic and whining mopeds in the background. Still, this is just a base from which we intend to explore the area in the course of the next 4 days.

Today, was our first exploration up towards the Montagnes Noires to St-Pons-de-Thaumière from where we headed out for a 16km run (475m of ascent) along, up and down undulating forest tracks, over Mediterranean heathland and through river-scoured valleys. It is quite a different landscape but quite beautiful and wild in its own way.

The running was excellent and much easier than what we are used to around Pissou. We spotted some beautiful flowers along the way which included a wild tulip....

... and beautiful irises which were too far from any houses to be cultivatedIt was a good run and nice to have a change of scenery. Some oysters from Bouzigues (just up the coast) and some small red mullet for dinner tonight.

Mountain weather

'Particulier', that's what it is. I simply don't know what to do with my washing! Woke up this morning to clear blue skies - great, get the washing in the machine! An hour and a half later, go to put the washing on the line but hang on, where has the sun gone? The sky had completely clouded over and 10 minutes later, it was raining. This afternoon, I notice the sun streaming in through the windows, look outside and the sky has pretty much cleared, so out goes the washing in lovely warm sunshine. Half an hour later, I notice it has gone very very dark - a glance outside and I see a black sky and hear the rumble of thunder. A storm has blown in at an amazing speed and then the heavens open, but not before a quick dash to the washing line to collect the sheets! It will probably be clear again in 10 minutes - you can't beat a bit of variety.

VTT (mountain bike) outing

Now, it is months since our mountain bikes last saw the light of day. Since I last rode mine, Andy has fitted it with a new front derailleur, bottom bracket, cranks and chain, so it was about time I tested out the new set up!

I wanted to explore somewhere we had not been before. We spotted a route in the VTT Ariege book which took us up from Castet d''Aleu to the Col d'Ayens and then along a route forestiere for several kilometres before heading back down a zig-zagging track/road and back to Castet.

It didn't start out well, when I discovered that my front hydraulic disc brake was jammed on. I bit of fiddling about with the hydraulic fluid reservoir seemed to release it thank goodness, so we were good to go. But within a very short while, I realised that my front derailleur was not changing - a closer inspection revealed that the cable attached to the derailleur was in fact NOT attached to it! Again, more fiddling and eventually we were off. The route was lovely, taking us up quiet roads and tracks above Castet with amazing views of Mont Valier and the high mountains. It was a steady climb up to the Col d'Ayens where we sat and had a butty and admired the view with the clouds building on the tops. Then on to the proper piste forestiere track which involved more gentle climbing before the gradient eased and we had some good steady riding which was fun. Then the descent began which was even more fun... until the bit where we were obliged to follow a steep, narrow footpath which was a definite get off and walk jobby! Fortunately, that only lasted a couple of hundred metres and then we were back on good track/road again for a quick descent back down to the D618 and a blast back to Castet.

So a good outing - 24kms with 700m of climbing. We were out for approx 2hrs 30 mins. One thing that I realised today is that I enjoy hill climbing much more on my roadie than I do on my mountain bike. I just didn't seem to be able to find a comfortable gear on my MB and it didn't help that I was getting gear slippage on my lower gears either. Reckon the bike needs a good servicing before the next outing.... that may help.

Stormy weather

We were supposed to be heading down to the Med coast today for a few days away, but the south (including our area) is experiencing stormy weather this weekend, with strong gusts and squally showers predominating. These are interspersed with calm, bright spells of warm sunshine, so it is all very bizarre! We will stay put until after the weekend when hopefully there will be a return to springlike weather and we will be able to get in some good long distance rides on the roadies on the relative flatlands of the coastal area.

Jiggety jog

It was 'fresh' this morning, but as the day progressed the temperatures rose until this evening at 20.00 hrs it was 16 degrees C! Anyway, that is by the by .... it was nice enough after lunch for us to have a bit of a run through the woods to Eycheboul.... ....and then along lovely paths down to the road, across the river and along a riverside/woodland path crossing ancient wooden bridges before heading up steep, steep paths to eventually reach the Gite de Liers from where the lack of snow up at 1900m (Pic de la Journalade) was evident

It was a lovely run back down and the proliferation of woodland flowers over the past few days is a sight to behold .... anemones, alpine strawberries, violas, periwinkles, euphorbias and loads more. It is quite beautiful, seeing the flora and faune coming to life as Spring makes itself known.

Clearing

The stormy weather of the last 24 hrs appears to be clearing

Looking forward to more sun tomorrow :-)

Two cols in one day - woo-hoo!

Lovely day today, so Andy and I set out from Pissou on our roadies with the intention of bagging both the Col de Saraillé above Massat and also Col de Latrappe above Aulus. It was my first outing on my 2nd new saddle and I was really hoping it was not going to give me any bother. We reached the Col de Saraillé and I thought that with a couple of minor adjustments/fine tuning I would have it about spot on. My riding position and comfort on the descent down to Ercé felt much better, so on we went to Aulus where we stopped to fill up with water before tackling Now, we have done Latrappe before from the Aulus side, but that was after only having ridden from Ercé, 10kms down the road! This time, we had already covered 32kms and gone up one Col, so how much energy would be in our legs, that was the question.

The answer was 'enough'! We made it in one steady push, only 5kms but with 370m of ascent. A lovely fast descent (I touched 60 kph in places!) down into the Ustou Valley followed although we did seem to be battling 10-15 kph headwinds most of the way down which we could have done without. On arriving at Seix, we decided that rather then head back over to Massat via the Col de Saraillé from Oust (another steep, fairly sustained climb) we would take the easier but longer option (26kms to be precise) of heading back up the D618. We were both pretty tired by the time we reached Massat so had a brief break in the square before the final push back up the hill to Pissou. It had been our longest outing yet, 80kms with 1067m of ascent in 4 hrs. A good ride.