A Fine Day Thu 18/07/02   Didn't get going till 10:45 whilst waiting for all my laundry to dry in the sun, which didn't reach the valley floor until around 8:45. Started off with a long but picturesque climb up towards le Col d'Artigascou with a beautiful view of the Spanish valley I had come down the evening earlier. The road I was planning on taking to Couledoux was closed due to a mudslide and a nice local French gentleman informed me that I could take another route along a dirt road past the ski resort Le Mourtis which I ended up doing. Once I had reached the resort sat down enjoying the sun and had a talk with Holger who called me at the deserted phonebox there. Carried on down the hill towards the D618 only to take a right hand turn and re-climb the Col de Portet d'Aspet a particularly steep ascent when going east with several spots above 10% - luckily only 450m altitude gain though. The approach to the col houses one of the famous Tour de France monuments in honour of Fabio Casartelli who was killed in a fall on the steep descent (going West) on 18th July 1995. At the top had a coke (25cl) and a mars which cost me EUR 3.50 (this must already be the Tour de France prices, which was scheduled to pass by tomorrow). Descended down a long windy yet fun road into the valley towards St. Girons, where I had planned an afternoon of internet updates. Came into St. Girons and after lots of going up and down the same street finally found the internet cafe which had been pointed out to me by the tourist information, (the thing was really not very visible!) Unfortunately the woman there did not let me use my laptop so I was only online for 15 minutes to find out if there were trains from Lyon to Strasbourg on Friday in a week.(which there are and the one I am planning to take leaves at 12:50) Headed out of St Girons on what felt like the hottest day since arriving in France and after having done some food shopping (the evening bottle of wine etc) made my way to Seix up the Ribautou valley. To get some more exercise (I had skipped a col through my detour to St. Girons) decided to finish the day off with a small col on the way to Seix. Hence took a right just after Lacourt off the D618 towards Alos (careful don't take the right in the village as it leads up a very very steep hill which ends up going to a mountain top and a very small village - very strenuous climb till I realised mistake) and cycled through the small and picturesque mountain town of Alos and over the col de Catchoudegue to descend towards Seix. Quickly found the campsite, which was one of the nicer and better organised ones I had seen on my trip so far, with only one major drawback - large swarms of mosquitos. Whilst unpacking found out that all my liquid soap had leaked into the pannier, which I subsequently took with me for a shower (together with various other items which were showered as well). I finally got to use the mosquito spray which I had been carrying around, and which succeeded in keeping the bloodsuckers at bay. Tomorrow afternoon the Tour de France will catch up with me and I am looking forward to seeing the riders fly by. My plan at this stage was to try and catch the tour on the Col de Port. Lessons Learned   - Always keep liquid soap or all liquids that are not in screw top bottles in extra plastic bag within luggage. - Must take more photographs	2412m 91.4km / Avg: 14.8km/h Camping le Haut Salat Seix 7,65 EUR (with pool) - Ph: 05 61 66 81 78 GPS: N42 52.119 E01 12.345
Valley Spain Casartelli Shrine Casartelli Shrine Camping Le Salat Typical Meal
Le Tour Fri 19/07/2002   I just don't seem to be getting any better with the early starts, as by the time I get everything packed up and onto the bike it is 10:45 again, despite getting up at 8am. Got stopped right away by a friendly policeman who informed me that the "route est ferme", and advised me to take a backroad to Oust. After some initial trouble finding my ways around I finally managed to get to Oust, which has a old roman church from the 11th century. I was still determined to see the Tour on the Col de Port, so I mapped out a route using backroads and dirt tracks to get to the col, starting off along the D17 from near Oust to Massat, past the col de Saraille. The road was very steep in some points but the high plateau with the cooling shade from huge oak trees was so beautiful that I actually went through the effort of digging out a marker pen and highlighting the section of the road - wow. Descended into Massat where I bought some supplies for lunch and started on the very steep ascend up towards Liers on the D318. Almost at the end of the marked road in Liers I quickly stopped to inquire about the route across the dirt road to the col. The whole family came out to help and give advice and offered me a jug of cold water and some homemade cake which I declined but ended up getting anyway. This happened to be one of those great moments when travelling by bike! After some discussion among themselves they recommended to descend to a branch off to the Church (which I had noticed coming up) and continue along a Route Forrestiere which would lead me close to the col and which was in much better shape than the route I had planned to take. So I said my thanks and goodbye and took off to find the path they had recommended. Went up the gravel and dirt road for a good 40minutes before reaching a small waterfall where I stopped to wash and cool my feet. Just beforehand I had noticed a grassy flat area which would have been a sweet spot for some wild camping. The route forrestiere in the end joined the D618 just meters before the Col de Port and I decided to set up my stuff there and have a picnic before the arrival of the riders. The whole time while I was sitting there cars with advertisements, tv and media motorcycles and police bikes came buzzing by, the whole trek that precedes the actual riders of the tour is called the caravane. The first to pass was a group of two (one of them "Gaga") which arrived several minutes ahead of the first bulk of riders. Once all riders and support had passed all recreational cyclists were first to get going on the descent down the col. I am now assuming that due to the constant breaking and the very hot road surface I blew the valve on my rear tyre and ended up fixing that for almost an hour halfway down the mountain - luckily in the shade. After the entire descent, decided to continue on to Ax les Thermes another 26 km along the N20 which leads to Andorra and consequently carries a lot of traffic even without the Tour. Found a nice campsite outside of Ax and quickly bought some beers which I considered more appropriate after the heat of the day, and made some dinner my standard Spaghetti with Pesto, Cheese (Comte), Peanuts and Tuna! Tomorrow will be another hard day with lots of meters of altitude to climb! This campsite would turn out to be the second (and last) of which I did not take photograph, which was a shame as the site was on a small hill called the colline.	1621m 76.8km / Avg: 15.9km/h Camping Municipal Le Malazeou Ax les Thermes 6.55 EUR - Ph: 05 61 64 69 14 GPS: N42 43.719 E01 49.471
Oust Church Route Forrestiere Waterfall Col de Port Le Tour Lead Support Le Tour Le Tour Le Tour Le Tour Le Tour - Lance Armstrong Le Tour - Caravane
A Change in Scenery Sat 20/07/02   Today I probably set the record for a late start, despite getting up a 8:10!! Don't know why it is taking me so long, but despite the excuse of the new fuel not starting easily! (Just as an aside after the third attempt I am getting much better at it and it turns out to be a question of technique) Started off with a huge ascent up the Col de Palhieres (1300m ascent to 2001m altitude), during which I stopped for a cool off break at around 1500m and played around in the river that was running alongside the road. Didn't rest there for long and continued the climb to the top which I reached at 15:00. Surprising how one always manages to get up there somehow, but it still hurts just the same and I thought this should be getting easier - or no? A collection of bikers at the top greeted me Tour de France style and one of the took a picture of me in front of the sign. The descent on the eastern side was very steep and I took great care not to overheat the wheels, as I don't have another spare inner tube! On the way down met two Danish guys who were also traversing the Pyrenees, yet going from east to west and who were carrying hardly any baggage. (they were staying in hotels) Continued on to Axat and took a photo of the Chateau d'Osson on the way down. The rest of the day turned out to be a fast and easy ride as one was following a river down with a slight downhill gradient all way. Finally arrived in Axat at 16:30 and decided to keep going until I reached around 90km, which meant that I would pass by St. Paul du Fenouillet and continue on through the Gorge Gallamus. The plan worked quite well, even with a little stop in St. Paul where I met a group of 7 cyclists, some from Germany, and chatted about the places to go, etc as they were heading to the Atlantic. Ascended to the entry of the Gorge took some pictures of a hermitage which had been built into the sheer rock face of the gorge (At this point was about 250m high) Found a small campsite which was part of a restaurant/snack bar called "La Vielle Moulin" (the old mill), and the building was indeed a very old mill of which I also took some pictures. Restaurant looked very nice and good, so I vowed to come back here sometime for a proper dinner. (Which I did in August on my way to Madrid!) Cooked my dinner and additionally got invited by a very nice German couple from Saarbruecken to some of their food. Afterwards sat down in the Bar for a dessert and some glasses of Muscat which the owner of the place had recommended. Started talking all evening to Francois who in the course of our conversation helped me improve my french skills and who had only recently been to a place close to Nuremberg on holiday. (had travelled all over the place when he was younger) Lessons Learned   - How to light the stove with "Petrol Desaromatise" - Do not take any bottles with petrol in the panniers even if they seem to be airtight as they will leak fuel, rather invest in an aluminum Sigg bottle instead.	1687m 87.4km / Avg: 16.4km/h Camping Vielle Moulin Gorge Gallamus 7 EUR - Ph: 05 61 64 69 14 GPS: N42 51.131 E02 28.134
Ax Les Thermes Col Pailheres 1500m Pano Col Pailheres River Col Pailheres Descente Vite Gorge Gallamus Gorge Gallamus - Hermitage Gorge Gallamus - Route Vielle Moulin - Moulin Camping Vielle Moulin
The Mediterranean Sun 21/07/02   Had a almost frugal breakfast, which consisted only of bread with nutella, lacking the usual croissant and pain au chocolat, didn't worry about that though as the day ahead would not be very strenuous - just very hot by the looks of it. Got packed up and in the morning finally got to talk to the interesting waitress which I had not addressed the night before due to my state of drunkenness, her name was Eolia and her plan was to work at the Vieux Moulin all summer - goodie maybe I'll see her again (Which I didn't by the time I got back there in August she had quit). Started riding at 11:30 (nice to get going before 12 for a change) since I had to finish my diary from the day before in the morning and on a rather uneventful day took the small roads from the Gorge du Gallamus Leucate Plage. Right as I got started I had a short break to buy some honey and confiture which I would be giving to the Katheders. Now the vegetation had definitely gone from moderate to an arid climate, a change which I first noted whilst riding down the valley towards Ax les Thermes. Very interesting to ride the bike and observing not only visually but also with many other senses the change in vegetation and climate. En route to the coast encountered several large wine producing areas in the Pays de Aude and the Languedoc, which smelled very intensely of sulphur, used to protect the vine and vineroots from pests. Finally arrived at the coast at 16:30 after 80km and and unexpected 1200m of altitude gain, making this day not exactly a rest day. Turned to the Tourist Info to find out about campgrounds and ended up on the Camping Municipal of Leucate Plage which must have the hardest ground you could possibly imagine, which in combination with it's rather ugly setup made this the worst campground I stayed at. Before setting up the tent I did manage to quickly nip into the supermarche which was quite pricey to buy a couple of San Miguel cervezas to toast to the arrival at the Mediterranean. Whilst enjoying my beers I mapped out the route for the next 4 days, realising that I'll probably not even make it to Lyon unless I were to take a pretty straightforward route, missing some interesting parts in the Massiv Central. Despite its boring nature I must remark on the internet session was incredibly frustrating as it took me about 50 minutes to re-configure pine to open the Exchange Inbox which I had deleted from the configuration file due to a typo on the bloody french keyboard. After this rather stressful period settled down into a deck chair outside, and finished my diary. Lessons Learned   - Like the Atlantic coast better than this part of the Mediterranean, despite the colder water. - Must drink less alcohol in the evenings! - The Minolta D100 takes awesome images - very happy about the purchase.	1185m 81.9km / Avg: 18.6km/h Camping Municipal Leucate Plage Leucate Plage 12.00 EUR - Ph: whatever GPS: N42 54.097 E03 02.922
Marche Souloir Camping Leucate Plage El Chiringuito
North to the Cevennes Mon 22/07/02   Got off to an incredibly early start which was certainly not due to me getting to bed early, as I was at the Cybercafe until well after midnight, may however be due to the not so great vibes about the place. Wanted to rather head inland again where life was not quite as crazy and full of tourists as at the coast. (It was 9:45 - ok?) Started cycling towards the municipal rubbish tip where I finally realised that I had missed one turn, so ended up going along a red road (the ones where the trucks drive by you seemingly inches away). Luckily I got off again after a few km and found the route I had originally intended to take towards Port-la-Nouvelle, home to the "La Baleine" salt company whom most people who have shopped in France will recognise. Rode along the huge saline basins where salt is won from the evaporated seawater on a piste cyclable to Narbonne, which I reached at around 12:30. (After a nightmare stop at a supermarket in Port-la-Nouvelle) Narbonne was a pleasant surprise, not only being able to almost cycle into the center along an old canal in the shade of huge trees, but also finding the city streets all lined with trees. The center of Narbonne, is built over one of the Roman roads previously used and a short stretch of which is excavated in the town square. The city has a fantastic historic Hotel de Ville and the Cathedrale St. Just St. Pasteur, construction of which commenced in the 12th century but was never finished. An impressive building nonetheless which even enticed me to looking round inside and taking some pictures of the cathedral. After having had a small lunch in the shade of the trees seaming the Canal de la Robi, I went to a well equipped internet cafe named "Versus" in the Rue Droite 62, near the town square. There I uploaded all my images and organised all my email. At 4pm continued north with the goal of reaching St. Gervais, a famous pilgrim town on one of the routes to Santiago de Compostela. (Despite me being atheist I seem to be hitting many pilgrim centres during my journey) Enjoyed the cycling north with the wind in my back, allowing me to made good speed and stopping only to swap my Tevas for cleat cycling shoes, which I really have grown to like. (Definitely won't be going through the Alps without cleats) . Quickly filled up my water bottle at the town fountain, located at one of the corners of the church, before continuing north towards St. Gervais. Rode through the surprisingly lively and interesting town of Cessenon s/ Orb and up the river Orb toward Roquebrun. When I reached the latter with 19km GPS distance till St. Gervais, which would be about 40km on the winding roads, I crossed the river Orb and looked down upon a crowd of people bathing in the river and the inviting cafes on the other side meant one thing to me - this would be the stop of today as I had also passed a camping municipal sign on the way into town. Set up my tent next to a nice English couple which I talked to for half an hour and then went off to the restaurant which the incredibly nice campsite manager had recommended and had called to make a reservation. (La petite Nice) The portions there were so large that even me being very hungry could not manage to fully eat, nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed a nice meal, a welcome change from the pasta/tuna/cheese dinner I had grown accustomed to. Headed back to the campsite, taking some pictures of the town at night along the way and completed my diary for the day. (And read some Harry Potter - The Goblet of Fire) Lessons Learned   - Whilst cycling along today realised how horribly predictable the mountain cycling was, averaging throughout most gradients from 4-11% at a rate of 10m climb /min. (The higher the gradient the more painful of course)	617m 92.2km / Avg: 20.5km/h Camping Municipal Roquebrun Roquebrun 5.90 EUR - Ph: 04 67 89 61 99 GPS: N43 29.902 E03 01.671
Narbonne - Cathedrale St. Just St. Pasteur Capestang Centre Ville Camping Municipal Roquebrun Roquebrun a la Nuit Continue with part IV