Perfect Last Full Day on the Bikes

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I can’t believe it is our last full day on the bikes…the week has just flown past and it is always sad to be almost at the end. This morning’s ride had two options, 20 miles or 31 miles. Both ending in Mouries, where we were scheduled for lunch and for those doing the short option, an olive mill tour.

We were all together until a certain point where the long riders would turn off, but up till that point we were skirting the base of the baby Alpes while passing pine trees on rolling hills. We stopped for a quick coffee and Ken/Sandy/Eric/Sam all choose to power through the longer ride, while I hung with Sue/Anthony/Ed/Shelley for the shorter version. We pedaled up a nice sloping hill for several kilometers and found ourselves quite high up along the cliffs we had been seeing earlier.

Of course, then it was a fun downhill and quite quickly we had arrived at Mouries! I was wishing I had gone on the longer route, as I was still in the riding mood, but oh well…it was a cute little town and gave me an opportunity to relax. I had done an olive oil tour before, so found a nice shady bench and watched the world go by, while the others learned about the olive processing.

Soon Ken and the other riders showed up and those on the tour were done, and it was time for a quick lunch before the afternoon ride. We were treated to a light pasta salad with some nice vegis and a fruit salad with local strawberries (currently in season) which was a good combo as it made the rest of the day a bit easier. Nothing worse than a heavy lunch and then trying to get the energy up for the pedaling.

After lunch we were doing a nice climb to the top of the limestone cliffs just below a small village called Baux de Provence and then were going to enjoy the Luimiere Multi-media show within the massive old mining tunnels. It was reportedly quite good and a great way to be entertained while seeing inside the cliffs. At this point it was quite hot, and by the time we got to the entrance we were ready for the coolness inside. If you click on the Yves Klein from this home page, you will get a good idea of what it looks like: https://www.carrieres-lumieres.com/en

Vidal secured the bikes, while Scott passed out tickets and we headed into the venue. As we walked in to the first tunnel we were greeted with a light show of colors and visuals on every part of the huge structure. They were continually moving, a bit psychedelic and Ken immediately got dizzy. He leaned over to put his hands on his knees, saw the floor moving and that made it worse. So he had to leave within the first 30 seconds, which concerned me so I followed him out and he was just not feeling great at all…so we went back to the bikes to hang with Vidal/Scott and wait for the others. It was very unfortunate, but better to get him out and not have him have to be carried out!

We waited for a bit and finally decided we could just head on back as the others may not be out for another 30-45 mins. Luckily the 13 miles back was almost all downhill and steep and super curvy for the first 2-3 miles. We went pretty fast down but were also careful as there were quite a few cars along with the steep curves. All too soon we were turning into the hotel’s tree lined drive and parking our trusty bikes in the locked parking area, as the others had yet to arrive.

From there we were able to relax, read, type this blog and hang until we headed down for the final dinner. As we were gathering, we found that Vidal, who was the Leader on the bike for today (they rotate) was flying down the steep hill, went around a curve and crashed…with a car quite near, who thankfully was able to stop before adding to the incident. He seemed ok, and got back on the bike to complete the remaining 10 miles. By the time he got off, his hand was extremely swollen and it was feared it was broken, so he had been taken to the emergency room, and had yet to return.

That along with the other tour leader, Scott having ripped his thumb open when working with one of the bikes, reminded us to be very thankful that the rest of us (so far) have been safe. We relaxed outside with great appetizers and drinks, before going in the beautiful chateau dining area for a 6 course dinner. When we hit desert, we were all thrilled to have Vidal return, where he shared he had broken his hand. Not good at all, and at least it was on the last day, but certainly makes it difficult for him to lead the trip next week.

While the food was wonderful, we were all exhausted and by the time we were on our last dessert course (11pm ish) we were all done for the evening. It was a quiet group as we headed to our rooms for our last sleep of the tour.

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Comments

[Al Hannum]

Looks amazing!
Hope you are both doing great! Al