nbjtours

Conques to St Chely d’Aubrac

54.70miles 5110ft climbed

Today was cool in so many ways. It was certainly very cool first thing in the morning when we got up as it was only six degrees. We visited a number of very cool towns and villages. The tunnels we went through were very cool and everyone was very cool in deciding we had done enough cycling for the day so did not do the last 25 miles and piled into the camper to enjoy an incredible day. Here’s the story.

As we had arrived too late to get our credencials stamped yesterday we agreed to climb up to the pretty town of Conques as the tourist office was due to open at 9 am. After the climb up and finding the office. It said it did not open until 9.30. We couldn’t wait that long but when I tried the door it opened and although the lady was not too happy she did finally agree to stamp our credencials, but was very keen to point out that she was not open until 9.30! After we left I heard her very firmly lock the door.

We then spied Monica and Nigel so joined them in the pastry acquisition, with some special requests including prune pasties as well as the standard croissants and pains.

The route followed the river Dourdou switching sides beneath high valley sides, the lush fields still being planted out by hand. It must take several days to do a field of this size.

Continuing along this pretty river valley we finally started to reach its head. This involved a climb up to the village of La Rodelle which is perched on a narrow rocky prominentry.

Nigel had set the camper up in the rubbish recycling area overlooking the valley and there we enjoyed our earlier purchases from the patisserie in Conques.

The next segment of the day was the most fun and most unexpected. We left La Rodelle and agreed to meet just 25 miles up the road after a long downhill and just halfway up the big hill.

However the best laid plans do get disrupted. We knew that we would go through the pretty towns of Bouzols and Espalion, but did not count on the cycle track that connected them.

After cycling through Bouzols we joined the poorly marked and very lightly used cycle track. The next ten kilometres were some of the most fun and slow downhill cycling we have had. The surface was not really suitable for road bikes but it was ok and quite often we were running with long grass smacking our hands

We turned a corner and were then confronted by an unlit big black tunnel over half a kilometre long. Nick fearful of the effects of dark cycling asked Dom and Neil, Who both had lights to take the lead. He then found a switch on the tunnel side which turned them on anyway.

Not only were there five tunnels but we also had four viaducts to traverse. The railway that wound its way up to Bouzols from Espalion was built in 1903-5 but closed to passenger traffic before world war two and freight in 1980 and was more or less a constant 3% gradient.

Instead of taking 15 minutes or less to get down we took the best part of an hour looking at the sights and navigating our way. A call was therefore put out to Thunderbird 2 to bring our lunch stop forward a few miles.

We then made our way to get our credencials stamped in Espalion and crossed its famous bridge. The lady in the tourist office explained they were unable to fully advertise the cycle path because it did not meet full voie verte standards. What a shame as it is great.

So lunch was by the river at St Come d’Olt before we then left for the first of two mighty climbs. Although the air temperature Remained cold, any time in the sun made it much warmer. Nigel had agreed to meet us at the first summit following over 2000 feet climbing and we could then decide a plan

We met Nigel at the top and decided to go down to St Chely d’Aubrac where we managed a further stamp and were advised it takes an hour to drive to our destination so cycling would be at least three and it was already gone five. Calculating we would not finish until well after eight we piled into the camper for a cheats ride to the next camp site.

We saw great stands of pyramid orchids as well as the common spotted orchid and many butterflies. Nick spotted a huge snake (he said at least four feet long!) slithering across his path but was unsure its type and I saw a large foot long European green lizard run across in front of me whilst climbing that last hill. Roger, I’ll try to put together a flora and fauna special for you next week.

During the day Nick decided that if he were to be able to beat Chris’s pilgrimometer he would have to adopt a catanddogometer. Following seeing the cats above this led to the closest competition of the week with the lead changing hands a few times. However Chris’s pilgrims finally came out easy winners 66 to 39.

Dinner of merguez, mash and veggies had to be eaten inside as it was so cool at an altitude of over 1000 metres. It was followed as usual by ice cream and cards. Chris and Nick confirming their places as top and bottom of the scoresheet.

This was a very cool penultimate day for many reasons and we will be sad to end the latest trip. It will be a tough 65 miles remaining tomorrow so we aim to be up early and attacking those hills again to get to Le Puy on time so Dom can sign on for his 75km run.