26-07-2014     Meyrueis – Meyrueis     124 km

Sociable breakfast with a Frenchman, touring with car and bike, with his wife and a girlfriend. They have their own logistic solution for the bikes/car problem: in the morning they start together, halfway he turns around for some extra kilometers and to fetch the car. In which he carries a good cycle pump! That means I can swap the order of the two étapes through the Cévennes – no need to visit Le Vigan today (= Saturday) for a bike shop. (I soon learn I would have succeeded in Meyrueis as well).

Professional pump

The Lady & The House

Nice starter

Meyrueis is just waking up – under a clear blue sky! – when I traverse it to get to the first ascension of the day, a nice and quiet one through the woods, bringing me up some 300 m, to the border Lozère/Gard, and also on the border between a forested and a more open landscape. I stay sort of at the same level, around 1000 m, pass a pass (Col du Montjardin, 1016 m), and thoroughly enjoy being here and now. A clear blue sky above me, some whiteness (clouds) far away, every now and then impressive views into and over the abyss in the south, trees, trees, trees, and hardly any cars yet (even though the D986 on the map looks like an important connection – at least for tourist traffic).

Changement de département

Beautiful open . . . .

. . . . landscape

His last crossing (?)

Abîme de Bramabiau

Just after the Abîme du Bramabiau – where I'm not lured into a visit of la rivière souterraine (likewise I don't want to 'waste' time on the Grotte de Dargilan and les stalagmites de la Grotte de l'Aven Armand)  I turn right for a big favorite of older times ('86 and '87): the Gorges de Trévezel. The condition of the road surface needs some attention, but for the rest it is again a wonderful ride through a glorious landscape.

	Beautiful gorges . . . .		. . . . de Trévezel

	Precious jewel . . . .		. . . . in the mountains . . . .
	. . . . the amazing village . . . .		. . . . Cantobre

It's a long gradual descent with the wonderful village of Cantobre just before the road connects to the D991 following the Dourbie. At the two former occasions I turned right at that junction, with some 27 km left to the youth hostel annex foyer des jeunes travailleurs in Millau (in stages of more than 170 km!), today I turn left for a late (already 50 km behind me) coffee break in Nant. Provided with some stuff from the local pâtisserie I find a free place on a crowded terrace in this village buzzing with people. Life is good!

Cantobre seen from below

Toilet art

Busy terrace in Nant

A short even section before the long climb of the day starts. In phases I go up from 500 m in Nant to – eventually (45 km further) – 1565 m at the Mont Aigoual. The only stretch of climbing of more than 5 km at 5 per cent is at the beginning, to go up to the Col de la Pierre-Plantée. From there a mostly gradually rising road – though containing some descending sections as well – seemingly endless, through an open landscape, nice views to all sides, through several small, isolated villages. Time is an absent dimension this afternoon.

	Short entr'acte . . . .		. . . . . up to . . . .		. . . . the big climb of the day
					End of   'phase one'
	I'm getting higher . . . .		. . . . slowly . . . .		. . . . all the time

At a certain moment I get the road from/to the col du Minier in view – tomorrow's track – and then I finally get to the junction with this road. I have a short encounter with the nice Frenchman from the gîte and realize they were his friends I came across some time earlier. We shake hands, I make a picture, and our routes diverge. I ride through crazy Espérou, where some event with quads is going on – for people that need more than just walking shoes or a bike to have fun – and one km up to the Col de Sereyrède on the French 'Continental Divide'.

	Friendly Frenchman, 'the one with the pump'		Ancient and modern road info		End of 'phase two'

Great view over the valley of the Hérault

There I have a late lunch with the things I've bought in Nant – baguette au comté and a one litre bottle of (organic) apple juice from the shop at the Office de Tourisme Mont Aigoual – would I have liked a coca cola! – and have a chat with a French couple. At the end of the break I restore the time dimension – it's around 3:30 p.m. (is it?).  Time enough to add the loop around the Mont Aigoual. First a VERY nice belvédère looking out over the high valley of the Herault, with the long serpentines of the road to Valleraugue clearly visible. Then two or three rather steep km, and also against the wind, past the ugly station de ski de Prat-Peyrot, then a sharp turn to the right for 1.5 km more to the Observatoire and the restaurant (hotel?) on top of the Mont Aigoual, which is actually quite an outstretched ridge (a bit like the Mont-Ventoux). The highest point so far, and for the next nine days to come. I overlook the road to complete the loop (I also miss an interesting Musée des Cévennes, or so I learn the next morning). Time for a descent!

And a final jump to get . . . .

. . . .

. . . . to the highest point so far

Another great view from a different angle

Not the Mont Aigoual

The sky is getting more overcast, but there seems to be not much risk of rain. From the Col de Perjuret, close to the source(s) of the Jonte, I definitely need my sun glasses. Through this valley of the Jonte, with the sun from the west, the views back/up are nicer than the views forward. When I leave Meyrueis the day after tomorrow I know where to look for the end of the climbing – it is a long way you can look up!

	Around the Col de Perjuret, a view to the east		A view back to the Col de Perjuret
	A view forward/down . . . against the sun		No view from the terrace

A little past five I pass the gîte and ride into town to witness some live Tour coverage: the long time trial around Bergerac, one day before the end. The top ten Dutch riders perform badly (Ten Dam) to disastrous (Mollema). Good dinner again, with eight new people (and one old ;-). A weather wise GREAT day ends on a foggy terrace.