Lavendre, Mont Ventoux, Soleil.

I love it.

When i went onto my first solo cycle trip some years ago (from germany to marseille, france), my coworkers joked that i should ride mont ventoux. I had no idea what mont ventoux was, but read it up. On that trip i happened to cycle around this mythical mountain, looked awesome, but i never seriously considered going up ever.

On two more cycle trips i cycled around mont ventoux on different routes, and it always looked just so cool from afar. This trip i wanted to hit mont ventoux, but i got sick basically on the western foot of it. I rode in recovery mode east past it, through the valley, looked awesome again. I then continued towards the high alps but eventually decided to turn around because of the weather forecast, back south into the prealps of provence.

And today i actually got to ride it. I rode it from Sault, because that's where i was coming from, which i guess is not what the OG's do or consider "riding mont ventoux", but cycle tourers are aloud to do that, haha.

Lots of roadies going up there. And it lived up to its name, it was real windy. In the morning at the bottom of the climb one roadie told me that it might be too dangerous to ride to the summit today but thankfully the wind chilled out a bit as i was going up, and also the cloud that had covered the top went away.

Picture is bit below the top on the descend to Malaucene. That glider plane was going nuts, that stuff looks absolutely crazy.

This topic is meant to be a low threshold possibility for all kinds of discussion. It is not meant to keep anybody from creating a new topic, the idea is that it may enable some discussion that would otherwise not happen at all.

Won't be getting any higher, at least not on this trip. On the Cime de la Bonette.

Riding mountains gives me a crazy high, the combination of exercise and the views that come up. There are places where you can get similar views "for free", without the work, but for me the feeling does not really compare.

The one where it says "terre de cyclistes". Pretty cool slogan, metropole nice cote d'azur.

Get all dizzy standing at these cliffs.

Met this guy walking across France in the cevennes, he started walking with his two donkeys at his home in Colmar, Alsace and was on his way to visit his kids at their farm at the foot of the Pyrenees. He was following the GR7 hiking trail.

This is a bit of an older link, don't think he updated in a while. I still have a look at it every once in a while.

Ultralight with little money, taken to the extreme (bubble wrap sleeping pad anyone?). I think he has some really good ideas and interesting thoughts, also like his humor.

Perpignan, France

In Catalunya, España

You guys must be thinking i am full of shit, but another cat just walked into my tent. This time at "camping solau" in Espot, Spain.

She stayed for about 15 minutes and is gone now.

I know already that this cat belongs to the campsite, she hopped on my lap yesterday while i was sitting in front of the reception. Don't know her name yet, but i will ask when i get out.

*edit: Cat's called Cookie

Just as i had set up my tent she came in, was raining outside. We've been hanging out here for half an hour already. I hope she won't spike my sleeping pad. Necklace says her name is Kyra. Love it 🥹

I have seen a lot of the village signs being upside down here in the french pyrenees. I was wondering if that was just some guy having fun, is it a national sport or some village rivalry? I think i have seen this elsewhere in france too, but here it seems very prevalent.

This topic is meant to be a low threshold possibility for all kinds of discussion. It is not meant to keep anybody from creating a new topic, the idea is that it may enable some discussion that would otherwise not happen at all.

I was kind of hoping to get a more accurate plagiat of the community banner. I deliberately killed some time before the climb because my app said the sun would come out later, but nope.

In the western pyrenees, Basque country.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15863592

I will update this topic in the [email protected] community in the coming weeks with some more lengthy sermons.

> Oh my gody guys and girls. I am beyond hyped right now, two days into riding the Pyrenees west to east. > > I started my pyrenees route yesterday from St. Jean de Luz on the atlantic coast. I thought road cycling was popular in spain, but here in this french town - and i'm trying to be accurate here - i saw about a hundred roadies riding out into the mountains this morning. Crazy. > > It is a beautiful sunny saturday, i feel like it's the first really warm day while i am cycling on this trip, it's 25° - which was basically the temperature i expected all along. The route for the day would take me over two smaller passes, but starting from sea level it's still a lot to climb. First pass is the Puerto de Oxtondo, it's not very spectacular and has some traffic, totally forgot about motorbikers. On the way to the pass i cross into spain, the downhill is sweet and at some point i turn east to climb up the Izpegiko or Col d'Ispeguy, a border pass after which i'll be back on the french side of the basque country. That one is much nicer, hardly any traffic. A guy touring with a cargo bike comes zipping down as i climb up, waving happily. On top of the pass is a bar, i have a drink, then sit on the grass to eat a banana and some cookies and enjoy the view. There's horses around and one cute baby horse comes up to me, i pet it a bit and it keeps demanding more. It starts to nibble on my tshirt. I try to hush it away, it's been hanging around for a while. Then it starts to nibble on my forkbag. Eventually it lets go of my stuff and licks the cylinders of a motorbike. Horses i guess. > > ! > > About to descend the Izpegiko > > Downhill is gorgeous and i roll into St Jean Pied de Port, a major starting town for the camino crowd. I check in on the municipal campsite, whole bunch of cycle tourers there (hikers too), i assume most of them are doing the camino too. I go into town to eat at a bar and befriend an american guy, we decide to share a table, he was also waiting for a free table. He is going to start walking the camino the next day. > > Back in my tent i plan my route for the next day, as i have already went off the track i had originally planned. > > I start right in time to when the carrefour supermarket opens, i buy food for 2 and a half days because it seems like i won't pass anything really. Turns out i just had the food type poi's disabled in my navigation app. > > It is going to be 17° and cloudy today, but the wind isn't cold so it feels kinda good. I'll be heading into the Irati forest. As i'm riding towards my first climb there's a sign that says col d'iraty 17 km at 5.7 %. That sounds alright. My plan is to ride only about two thirds of it, then go onto what looks like a hiking track, then do a little river crossing onto a mountainbike route. A sign comes up 17.5 km to the col, next 500m will average 11%. I guess that'll only make the rest a bit milder. But it turns out the whole climb isn't very even and i started a climb that will average almost 10% for the next 9km. If i had had a look at the grades yesterday evening, i'm sure i'd have found a different route. The climb is really moody and cloudy, but i still enjoy it, there's a whole lot of vultures dipping in and out of the clouds, which looks amazing, very calm climb too, just a few roadies and a couple RVs. > > ! > > Climbing up the Burdinkurutxetako > > The climb has some kind of pre-pass, it goes by the snappy name "Burdinkurutxetako", it is basically where the steep section ends and i will turn onto the hiking track. It is super beautiful forest, i ride along the creek. There comes a section that looked like hike-a-bike, but i am able to "ride" down, walking speed and one foot on the ground kinda. Then i am at the river crossing. I gues this is the first actual river crossing i did. Water is above knee high in parts. There are diagonal rocky furrows in parts that look super sketchy, all the rocks are covored with algae too. I find a spot with hardly any furrows, do a test walk to the other side. It's pretty damn slippery and the current kinda strong. I decide to carry over bags and bike seperately. I bring two bags at once, i think having one hand free could be helpful. Last i bring over the bike, which is way easier. > > ! > > About to cross. There is a big toad hidden in this picture, i guess it's really hard to find, whoever finds it will get an upvote > > I don't know if the it was the right call to cross the river 7 times (incl. test walk) or if i should have just gone with the complete bike. Maybe the current would have been worse with the bags, but it felt really stable with the bike as an extra post. While i'm fooling around with my crap by the river, the sun comes out. On the other side of the river is a picnic table and i eat some waffles and try to let my sandals dry. River crossing was also a border crossing, i am back on the spanish side now. > > Then i get onto the mtb track, which is really a gravel road. It gets cloudy again, and i ride a climb way into the clouds, then a real fun downhill out of the clouds, then climb back into the clouds again. On top of the climb is a hikers bar, open on the weekend. I drink a coke on the terrasse, which should have a fantastic view but it's all in the clouds. The plan is to go like some 20km more, but fiddling around with my phone i see that there's a refugio just 2km further up a road. It is a bit early, but the sun breaks through the clouds again, i can see into the mountains and think that would be real sweet. The clouds move real fast, i get a view for 20 seconds and then it's all just fog again. And then a view again. I order two beers at the bar, one of them to go, some crisps and another bottle of water. The bar closes at 6, i ride up up to the refugio and get a glimpse of really great views and i start to get super fucking high on my trip. Cycle touring is the best. > > The refugio is again a bit shoddy, but i place a chair outside of it, sheltered from the wind and eat some crisps, drink the other beer, watch birds of preyg, enjoy the view and start writing a post for lemmy. > > ! > > Chilling at the refugio > > At 8 o'clock i am covered in clouds, the wind picks up and it gets cold, but in the refugio it's warm, someone has made a fire here today, the warmth comes from the fireplace. I cook some pasta, then some tea, have a look outside but it's still all clouds. > > > I am sending this the day after, there was no connection in the refugio. Morning was still all clouds, but i descended out of them already. On the descend i remembered what i wanted to buy last week at Decathlon in Pamplona: Gloves.

Oh my gody guys and girls. I am beyond hyped right now, two days into riding the Pyrenees west to east.

I started my pyrenees route yesterday from St. Jean de Luz on the atlantic coast. I thought road cycling was popular in spain, but here in this french town - and i'm trying to be accurate here - i saw about a hundred roadies riding out into the mountains this morning. Crazy.

It is a beautiful sunny saturday, i feel like it's the first really warm day while i am cycling on this trip, it's 25° - which was basically the temperature i expected all along. The route for the day would take me over two smaller passes, but starting from sea level it's still a lot to climb. First pass is the Puerto de Oxtondo, it's not very spectacular and has some traffic, totally forgot about motorbikers. On the way to the pass i cross into spain, the downhill is sweet and at some point i turn east to climb up the Izpegiko or Col d'Ispeguy, a border pass after which i'll be back on the french side of the basque country. That one is much nicer, hardly any traffic. A guy touring with a cargo bike comes zipping down as i climb up, waving happily. On top of the pass is a bar, i have a drink, then sit on the grass to eat a banana and some cookies and enjoy the view. There's horses around and one cute baby horse comes up to me, i pet it a bit and it keeps demanding more. It starts to nibble on my tshirt. I try to hush it away, it's been hanging around for a while. Then it starts to nibble on my forkbag. Eventually it lets go of my stuff and licks the cylinders of a motorbike. Horses i guess.

! > About to descend the Izpegiko

Downhill is gorgeous and i roll into St Jean Pied de Port, a major starting town for the camino crowd. I check in on the municipal campsite, whole bunch of cycle tourers there (hikers too), i assume most of them are doing the camino too. I go into town to eat at a bar and befriend an american guy, we decide to share a table, he was also waiting for a free table. He is going to start walking the camino the next day.

Back in my tent i plan my route for the next day, as i have already went off the track i had originally planned.

I start right in time to when the carrefour supermarket opens, i buy food for 2 and a half days because it seems like i won't pass anything really. Turns out i just had the food type poi's disabled in my navigation app.

It is going to be 17° and cloudy today, but the wind isn't cold so it feels kinda good. I'll be heading into the Irati forest. As i'm riding towards my first climb there's a sign that says col d'iraty 17 km at 5.7 %. That sounds alright. My plan is to ride only about two thirds of it, then go onto what looks like a hiking track, then do a little river crossing onto a mountainbike route. A sign comes up 17.5 km to the col, next 500m will average 11%. I guess that'll only make the rest a bit milder. But it turns out the whole climb isn't very even and i started a climb that will average almost 10% for the next 9km. If i had had a look at the grades yesterday evening, i'm sure i'd have found a different route. The climb is really moody and cloudy, but i still enjoy it, there's a whole lot of vultures dipping in and out of the clouds, which looks amazing, very calm climb too, just a few roadies and a couple RVs.

! > Climbing up the Burdinkurutxetako

The climb has some kind of pre-pass, it goes by the snappy name "Burdinkurutxetako", it is basically where the steep section ends and i will turn onto the hiking track. It is super beautiful forest, i ride along the creek. There comes a section that looked like hike-a-bike, but i am able to "ride" down, walking speed and one foot on the ground kinda. Then i am at the river crossing. I gues this is the first actual river crossing i did. Water is above knee high in parts. There are diagonal rocky furrows in parts that look super sketchy, all the rocks are covored with algae too. I find a spot with hardly any furrows, do a test walk to the other side. It's pretty damn slippery and the current kinda strong. I decide to carry over bags and bike seperately. I bring two bags at once, i think having one hand free could be helpful. Last i bring over the bike, which is way easier.

! > About to cross. There is a big toad hidden in this picture, i guess it's really hard to find, whoever finds it will get an upvote

I don't know if the it was the right call to cross the river 7 times (incl. test walk) or if i should have just gone with the complete bike. Maybe the current would have been worse with the bags, but it felt really stable with the bike as an extra post. While i'm fooling around with my crap by the river, the sun comes out. On the other side of the river is a picnic table and i eat some waffles and try to let my sandals dry. River crossing was also a border crossing, i am back on the spanish side now.

Then i get onto the mtb track, which is really a gravel road. It gets cloudy again, and i ride a climb way into the clouds, then a real fun downhill out of the clouds, then climb back into the clouds again. On top of the climb is a hikers bar, open on the weekend. I drink a coke on the terrasse, which should have a fantastic view but it's all in the clouds. The plan is to go like some 20km more, but fiddling around with my phone i see that there's a refugio just 2km further up a road. It is a bit early, but the sun breaks through the clouds again, i can see into the mountains and think that would be real sweet. The clouds move real fast, i get a view for 20 seconds and then it's all just fog again. And then a view again. I order two beers at the bar, one of them to go, some crisps and another bottle of water. The bar closes at 6, i ride up up to the refugio and get a glimpse of really great views and i start to get super fucking high on my trip. Cycle touring is the best.

The refugio is again a bit shoddy, but i place a chair outside of it, sheltered from the wind and eat some crisps, drink the other beer, watch birds of preyg, enjoy the view and start writing a post for lemmy.

! > Chilling at the refugio

At 8 o'clock i am covered in clouds, the wind picks up and it gets cold, but in the refugio it's warm, someone has made a fire here today, the warmth comes from the fireplace. I cook some pasta, then some tea, have a look outside but it's still all clouds.

I am sending this the day after, there was no connection in the refugio. Morning was still all clouds, but i descended out of them already. On the descend i remembered what i wanted to buy last week at Decathlon in Pamplona: Gloves.

I was talking with a friend about the basque coast in france and he told me

> They do a sport called 'longe côte' where you walk quickly along the beach with water up to you chest.

And what do you know, this morning i saw two groups of longe côteurs. A fascinating local sport.