Day 17 - Serres to Vaison-la Romaine

Sunday, September 20

Serres to Vaison la Romaine (81 km)

Today was a lark. We woke to cloudy skies and wet streets. It was raining when I got up at 0430 for the old man’s break. But, the sky in the west looked better at 0720. So, off we went. After a brief fifteen kilomter, gentle, climb, the ride was slowly 1-2 % downhill most of the way to Nyons.

Provencal Mas (farm house)

As we rode along toward Mont Ventoux we noted the change in the architecture.

St. Georges Gorge

For about forty kilometers we passed through the St. Georges gorge along the ? river (I never can seem to get the name of the rivers). It was beautiful and fortunately almost all down hill. After that, we expected to have to climb up over a ridge, but instead, we rode along the ridge to Vaison la Romaine.

Looming on our left was the GIANT, Mont Vantoux. It really is massive, mainly because it is out here by itself. There is nothing else there to compare it with. We are really excited to climb it on Monday. Down its southeast side is Luberon, where we have ridden before, and where our friends have a house.

How villagers got their water in the "Olden Days."

Vaison la Romaine was the medieval city where we stopped for the day. There, we saw another of the many constantly running springs (I guess you would call them that). In most towns they are in a small plazza. I guess that's how villagers got their water in the "olden" days.

We arrived in Vaison la Romaine to find an ant pile tourist town. It took a while, but we finally found our hotel up by the Castile, built in the 1300’s. It was a nightmare for Sandy with the car. She finally had to have the hotel owner drive the car up there. The parking for eight cars really has enough room for 3 ox carts, but they pack them in. It really is unreal. But the room was great, the food wonderful, and view gorgeous. All in all, a fun and easy day.

Tomorrow will be the test.

Day 16 - Alpe du Huez to Serres

Saturday, September 19

Alpe du Huez to Serres (132 km)

Today was a surprise. First, we woke to an overcast sky. We thought we had two Cols to go over, but it turned out we actually had four. It was very hard - we are definitely still in the Alps. I thought they would quickly fade away after Alpe du Huez, but that is not so. It took another fifty miles southwest to get out of them.

The first, up to the Col d' Ornan, was twelve kilometers long, and challenging, but not too steep. It was followed by a twenty kilometer, beautiful downhill where we were able to safely hit high speeds (60 kmph).

Riding toward Col d' Ornan.

One of many wonderful views back up the canyon toward Col d' Ornan.

THEN, we started up to the Col de Parquetout. Its road is not commonly used, and is in fairly poor condition. However, the bad news was that, even though it was short ( 7.5 km), the average grade was 10%, and much of it was around 12% - with one shot over 15%! My knees and right hamstring were talking to me.

The climb to this Col was the steepest I have ever done.

View coming down the Col de Parquetout toward the southwest. We could detect subtle changes in the architecture, flowers, and temperature.

Thank God the next col was not much, and the final Col d' Festre wasn't too hard. Finally, a very long downhill for about 30 kilometers. It was a beautiful, but tough, ride.

The town of Serres was also a surprise. It was a little, podunk, place, and the hotel was nothing to write home about. However, the French food came through again. We found a little resturant about ten feet wide, that had fabulous food. I had a regional specialty - a salad with chicken hearts in it. I followed that with wonderful lamb chops, then topped it off with profiteroles filled with ice cream and covered with cholocate. Again, French food is dangerous. We had a couple of demi bottles of very dry French Rose's that were quite good.

Day 15 - Briancon to Alpe du Huez

Friday, September 18


Briancon to Alpe du Huez (81 km)

In some ways, today was a strange day. We had to backtrack up to the Col du Latauret and then go down to Bourg d’ Oisans to begin the climb up to Alpe du Huez. There are four major tunnels on the way there, and we were advised not to ride through them. We only knew about three, and so we shuttled through those. The traffic stopped about 45 minutes just outside the third for reasons unknown, but a helicopter did come and do something. Then we started pedaling again, only to find another 700 meter curved tunnel - but we made it through.

The view back down the climb.

The climb starts abruptly, as many of you know, and is a 10-12 % grind for the first 2.5 km, then will ease to 8% sometimes, and rarely to 7%. It has 21 switchbacks; there are signs with the names of previous winners of the TDF stages over the years. Lance is up there for the years 2001 and 2004. There are still many cyclists climbing daily, and at the height of summer there are as many as 500-700 a day going up. There is no way to describe it. Check it out on Google earth or http://www.climbbybike.com/.

A pro was selling pics of us tourists climbing. I tried to look good for him.

I have to say, my only claim to fame is that I didn't stop. It took me an one hour and 05 minutes to do 14 km. I was really slow. I really needed a triple chain ring to be able to spin. I couldn't get over 65 rpm with my compact and had to stand quite a bit.

At the Top

We finally made it to the top. There was hardly anyone there. A false arrival sign below by a T shirt shop stopped most people. It was short of the offical route by 1.5 kilometers. At the arrival, there was a lot of room for spectators and equipment. They must expect crowds again soon.

Our Hotel

It was a treat to stay at this great little hotel. Everything inside was in pink. The flowers were wonderful, and she watered them in the evening and morning. The owner was a little old lady that was just delightful, and worked tirelessly the whole time we were there.