Anyone done Avignon?

[velovoice]

I may be bonkers but I'm not insane.....

@Flying Dodo did it last year from the Malaucène side... on his (old) Bickerton!

 

[adscrim]

I may be bonkers but I'm not insane.....

I was up Ventoux last month and the climb from Sault isn't actually that bad. You're climbing for a long time and the last 6k gets more steep, but I'd say it was almost pleasant - and that was with the other two road climbs in my legs. As an indication, and other than the top most 6k, I pedalled all the way down the Sault climb before turning around and going back up.

 

[velovoice]

Ah - but @Flying Dodo is totally la-la.....

True... but he came back telling me he was confident that *I* could do it - albeit on my touring bike not my Brompton. But still. That's saying something.

 

[velovoice]

Anyone who know me knows I don't do hills...
... She's going to have a 44 tooth chainring fitted.

Given the first, why the second?

No excuses now!

 

[srw]

I've ordered my IGN 25k maps from Stanfords...

Planning on walking rather than riding, then?

 

[TheDoctor]

Pffft. The road from Sault up to Chalet Reynard is a mere 3%.
I did it on a Brompton. With a hangover.
The worst bit was how cold it got when the sun went down.
Up near the snowline, in November, in the dark, in shorts. It was chuffin' freezing!

 

[slowmotion]

As it is a Brompton, you could put it in the boot of a taxi for the trip up Ventoux

If you go that way, the Monday food market in Bedoin is well worth a visit.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

If you go that way, the Monday food market in Bedoin is well worth a visit.

There's a bicycle museum there too, with some very old and interesting bicycles in it. I mentioned it in my recent trip report in the travelogues section.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Unfortunately I shall be travelling on Monday but...



I may see if I can make it to the museum.

You won't see it on the map just by browsing, but if you search for "Expo Cycles Bedoin" then Google Maps will show you its exact location. It's not far from the central roundabout, and NW of the Office de Tourisme.

 

[briantrumpet]

I might get a bit of walking in as well. That said, I do like the 25k for cycling as well.

I'm not a great fan of IGN maps despite them being the best there are for France. They all suffer in comparison with OS maps, not only for clarity, but the paper is appalling, and tears along the folds easily. The 1:25000 are too dense with colour, and it's hard to tell green forest boundaries from red paths, when it's printed over green underneath. The Top100 are nice pieces of artwork, and are pretty good for cycling, and though the newish Départmentale maps (orange covers) are much clearer in that respect, they lack contours, so make the assessment of elevation much trickier.

Having said all that, I still spend hours and hours poring over various IGN maps, like a child in a sweet shop, planning my various routes.

 

[Dec66]

Where are you billeting, Reg?

I'm looking at doing precisely the same thing next May, and as I'm hoping for some company this time I'm currently speccing out gites.

Not sure if any of them will fancy a race up Ventoux, like.

 

[TheDoctor]

I stayed there once! We got eaten alive by mossies.
The room looked like someone had been murdered by cheesegrater the following morning.
Go to Isle-sur-la-sorgue if you can. About an hours ride, or take a train. Very nice place.

 

[TheDoctor]

*envies*
I'm off to the Peak District this weekend. I doubt it'll be quite as warm...

 

[Crackle]

Dinner this evening:

Cod rilletes

View attachment 372970

Lamb crumble

View attachment 372971

Red fruit bavarois

View attachment 372972

Plus a half pichet of red wine and a coffee...

€31.


Now sitting having a pastis in a local bar.

What zee heck is lamb crumble??

 

[Crackle]

A savoury crumble made with lamb. Very

Not sure which restaurant I shall grace tonight. I may go back to the same one.

Well, well, I've never come across such a thing before. I first looked at the pictures and thought you'd had two desserts.