Friday 7 August 2015

One last ride

It's our last day here and I have to pack up the bikes. It's a bit of a pain to do, and I'd rather not have to do it, so it's obvious that I should go out for a last ride. 

The quarry above St. Gens (with Ventoux in the distance).

A view of the Nesque valley from Venasque. 

An overhang above the road down from Venasque.

On the road from Venasque up to Le Beaucet someone decided (a way back in
time I'm guessing) to build an abode in the side of the cliff. Whatever works.  
One story: On the way up to St. Gens and the quarry I was chugging along at a moderate pace when a rider came up and "bon jour'd" me. He was still in his big ring, so I picked up a gear or two and stayed on his wheel. It really wasn't that hard, but he was keeping a decent pace for a climb. Anyway, it wasn't more than a minute or so and he looks back, gestures, and says "Wheel sucker" with a French accent. 

So I don't know how he knows I'm English, or maybe that's just the way a French rider insults another one, by telling him he's a wheel sucker, in English, but I pull out beside him and smile and say "Oui" and take the lead. The grade increases a bit so I step it up a bit and by the time I get to the village church, he's not there anymore, so I keep going up to the quarry. 

It was a fine ride. I'm glad I went.

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