On the Road - Bob and Gail: 8. June 8, 2019

All of our rides leave from the Hotel Le Beffroi each morning so we are not moving from place to place each day. This makes it very nice because we don’t have to do the “bag drag” to a new hotel. We have breakfast buffet at 7:00 am (photos tomorrow) and are on the road by 8:30. This type of touring is called “hub and spoke” as we go in a different direction each day out of our home base (the hub).

Today’s ride was about 50 miles with close to 3,800 feet of climbing .We headed east through the Toulourenc River Valley to Savoillan, a very small town where we were promised fresh baked treats from the local Patisserie and delicious coffee from the shop next door. They did not disappoint!

Unfortunately I so enjoyed the beautiful pastry I purchased (chocolate with almond filling) that by the time I realized I should have taken a photo, I had already eaten it. Well, I did capture a picture of the coffee shop and the town as well as a a few folks enjoying the rest stop.

Lots more climbs today and Mt. Ventoux seemed to continue to reappear throughout the day reminding us that we would be visiting her soon All the rides we are doing now are just a warm up for our legs, especially for a flat lander from Arizona like me.

Once again our route sported incredibly beautiful vistas and historic small towns. I also have to mention that we had a minimum of 5 miles of twisty, VERY twisty, downhill that snaked down a mountain and was filled with switchbacks and sharp turns - soooooo much fun! And very little traffic other than mostly motorcycles,which allowed us to really enjoy our descent!

The last climb of the day, while it doesn’t look too difficult on the profile, it really was one long and steep slog. My legs were definitely talking to me when we got done.

Looking forward to tomorrow as our guides a providing us with a picnic lunch and promising a bit less climbing than today - 50 miles and only 2500 feet of climbing! Hmmm, however they did mention a wee bit of a slog of oh, just about 17%, but it should only be for a short climb.

Ride profile - them some climbs!