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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
22nd June 2016 Mt. Biking: Sommet de Lure to St-Etienne les-Orgues (decent) Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Sunny and hot :) Max Speed: Distance Covered: Wednesday 22nd June – Bike **** Sommet de Lure to St-Etienne les-Orgues (decent) Sunny and hot :) Top night in our car park just below the Summet de Lure (1826) with not a soul about, woke early to cloudless blue skies. Did our exercises watching a Short toed Eagle hunting nearby and Mag thinks she spotted a rabbit! After breakfast we relaxed in the sunshine although there was a bit of a breeze coming up the mountain. There were builders working at the top in the telecommunications compound who arrived about 8 but the first tourists in cars,bikes and motorbikes didn’t start coming until 9:30 and then it was quite busy especially with groups of bikes battling the heat to reach the top! It was cool in the breeze so packed up and started down, my plan was to drive to the tiny ski resort just around the corner and walk down to the Ancient Abbey de Lure but couldn’t find the start of the walk just one button lift and a restaurant. I continued for a few km down and the tree lined bendy road looked good for some downhill mountain biking so we returned the 6km back to the Summet carpark! I quickly untied the bike and got ready, I even did some uphill first to the very top, setting the gps and heading down the very bumpy road from the top where lots of the tarmac is missing! With back-up Mag ready in the van and with the plan to look for the Abbey on the way down, I quickly reached the ski resort taking a short cut over some small bike jumps and then after a few miles we came to a tight left turn down a dirt track to the Abbey. It was there we had a little misunderstanding, with the turning a little tight for Mag to turn down I went ahead to check it out hoping Mag would follow. The well-made dirt road of about half a mile ended in a small car park surrounded by trees, it was a lovely spot and there were several people enjoying picnics at table in the flower covered area surrounding the small Chapel, shame Mag didn’t follow me down as she read her book on the main road. I biked round the Abbey before heading back to Mag, we should have returned for lunch but continued all the way down to St-Etienne les-Orgues where I put the bike on and Mag drove us to Sault where we stopped just outside for our picnic at a table in the trees. The drive was lovely with several fields of lavender but it is a shame that we are a few weeks early to see it at its best :( We then found a small supermarket just to stock up with fruit and another tub of ice-cream, it was shut when we got there but it opened as we filled up with diesel! We had two choices now as we had had enough of driving- head the short distance to Monieux at the start of the Gorges de la Nesque where we stopped by a little lake or head to the top of Mont Ventoux. The lake was closer so we tried there first but there were loads of campervans and they had blocked the way to our favourite spot so we drove to the top of Ventoux. This is a very famous road bike area and we passed several making slow progress to the top in the hot! At the very top it was busy but we went over the summit and down a little way and parked where we stopped before near the giant golf ball in a very secluded space with fantastic views where we enjoyed a cuppa and our ice cream and read until 7:30 when we had burgers for tea. As the sun was getting low we went for a walk up the stoney path to the Chapel and then right to the very top. There were several people about enjoying the most wonderful sunset, as the giant red ball disappeared behind the mountains leaving a deep red strip all around – stunning. It was then back to the van to finish the ice-cream with a cuppa, this is a lovely spot and we hope it doesn’t blow a gale in the night like it did the last time we were here! Photo Gallery Here |
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