14 – 07 – 2021,   le Vigan – La-Salvetat-sur-Agout   133 km

Le Vigan – Blandas – Vissec – Le Caylar – Ceilhes-et-Rocozelles – Brusque – Arnac-sur-Dourdou – Murat-sur-Vèbre – La-Salvetat-sur-Agout

Design coffee container

Breakfast at 7:10h, provided by the boss himself today. Coffee in a jar again. Today's (as well as tomorrow's) ride will bring me through unexplored territory. I may have crossed the Haut-Languedoc in 1985, I must have crossed it in 1989, but I don't have any recollections of this (my own) pre-history. The 'manager' had recommended me to get onto the plateau (the causses), i.e. go south straight away and then more or less stay on altitude. Beforehand (i.e. at home) I had already noticed that this stage, the first of three or four big strides to get to Saint-Lary-Soulhan, would definitely not be a flat stage. I plan (hope!) to make it to Saint-Lary in three strides, so that I will have an extra day for a stage sans (bagage) in the high Pyrenées. This day will be pretty decisive for that. It's best to at least make it as far as La Salvetat (I even tried to book a night there in a gîte, but that was for Saint-Jacques' pilgrims only). At the start the sky only offers some sparse blue patches in the south. After 3 km on the busy D999 (to Nant, even Millau) I turn left/south for a nice 8 km climb, some 400 m up, to Montdardier.

Sunny ride up		To Montdardier
On the plateau		(against the wind)

In Montdardier the blue patches have disappeared; time for my raincoat? I ignore the signs for the Cirque de Navacelles (already on the sign posts since I left the D999) and turn right/west onto the D113 to Blandas, and hey, it's rather flat, but it's also rather open, and the wind with strength at least 5 beaufort is from the west; that's no fun!

Approaching the cirque

The Cirque de Navacelles

The Cirque and down there: Vissec

And then: a hard sequel

Shortly after Blandas I have a distant view of the famous (?) Cirque; it's quite a big thing indeed. I make some photographs, destined to be disappointing, taking care my bike is not blown to the ground. The rain definitely asks for precautions. I put away the map; the old plastic cover, hard to replace (who does still navigate with a map?), is not waterproof anymore, and I put on my raincoat. It is quite a descent to Vissec, from where I follow the Vis. I cross a bridge over another stream, the Ruisseau de Sorbs, on the border of Gard and Hérault (I'll change départements many times today), and have to settle a stiff ride up from 480 m till 680 m in 3 km. The next village, Sorbs, is on the plateau again, and I'm fighting my way against the wind again. It is a struggle to get to Caylar, a hard struggle. And what a gloomy celebration of quatorze Juillet I find there. It's rainy, windy and cold; at most 15°C, I gather. I buy some stuff in a supermarché and find some warmth and coffee in a restaurant just on the other side of this celebration (a speech and some brass band music). Somewhat reluctantly I mount JJ again; shall I change my plan and turn south, to circumvent the wind? It's already past twelve; Salvetat seems SO far away!

Happy with all shelter

D'un département à l'autre

I pull myself together, and the next 25 km are not that bad; quite nice, actually: no rain, and after Les Rives, more specifically, after I reenter the département Aveyron, there is a lot of shelter from the woods. Also I 'lose' more than 400 m until Ceilhes-et-Rocozelles, so I can fortunately keep up a good speed and enjoy a very nice ride through the valley of the river Orb. There are SO many rivers in Occitanie! In Ceilhes, a nondescript village along this Orb, I spot restaurant "Le Relais de Ceilhes", and it still lunch time. In former years I would have entered, observed it was too fancy for me, and left, but over the years I have learned to surrender to the bliss of the French cuisine. I order just one plate, Cabillaud aux Tomates et Risotto, and it is delicious!

So many rivers

Plat délicieux

The rest of the stage offers great cycling through a wooded, hilly environment, intersected by rivers. I consider staying another day in this lovely part of France, but hey, the weather, and hey, shouldn't I better .....   From the delicious fish it's first 250 m up, along a lovely D902, till the Col de Notre Dame, then 250 m down again to Fayet, during which 'descent' I pass from Hérault into Aveyron again. In Brusque I choose the tiny road along the Dourdou with the intentions of avoiding both a long climb and a busy road. Well, I don't avoid the climb (how could I: Murat-sur-Vèbre is 400 m higher than Brusque!), but it is definitely a gorgeous by-pass. Pedal push by pedal push I move on, move the present into the past, and it's just heaven. Mountains give a special sense of time. They carry with them/have 'seen' such a long history. Mountains too live, and die, eroded by time, flushed away to the bottom of the oceans by currents, streams, rivers ....

Up to Col de Notre Dame		Haut-Languedoc: unknown, beautiful territory
Beautiful sidestep		And another river: the Dourdou

In Murat (to my surprise in the département Tarn again) everything is closed. 14 Juillet! Well, there is an open bar, where a helpful barman tells me he has the key of a maison municipale/gîte. It's past six, so it is time to have some place settled for tonight. I try a few calls to hotels in La Salvetat, and succeed to find me a bed in Hôtel "La Plage". I munch away some baguette au Roquefort (the barman doesn't mind me making my own picnic), flush it down with a quick beer, and get going for the last 25 km, mostly downhill, all the time along the Vèbre, including the storage lake (Lac du Laouzas) until, shortly before La Salvetat, this river merges with the Agout.

Back into Tarn

Lac du Laouzas

I cross the Agout in La Salvetat, parallel to a bridge from the XIIth century; speaking of history! Within five minutes of the announced time, and with a slight drizzle again (will it rain tonight!) I reach the hotel, situated at quite a tourist spot (the name is not just misleading marketing). It feels like: (first) mission accomplished. After the 'sandwich' in Murat I'm not so hungry anymore; one big vegetarian salad is sufficient. I'm quite alone compared to all the groups and families that have come to dine here tonight, but I am not feeling lonely. The weather forecast is still not good; only in the weekend (it's Wednesday now) it should get better. Early to bed, early to rise (15 minutes before the earliest possible breakfast time).