Late Season Miles in France Days 3&4

Here’s a breakdown of the second half of our quick trip to France in November, 2011. Check out the first half here.

Interlude (Post Day 2 Ride in Grasse)

With all that great cycling at our (hotel) doorstep in Nice/Grasse, it was difficult to justify hopping in our Peugeot Expert to drive two hours in search of more miles.  Could the riding get any better than what we’ve experienced in the first two days?  The answer turned out to be yes.

The drive ended in the Mediterranean seaside town of La Ciotat, situated between Cannes and Marseilles, and home to the Guivarch family, our hosts for the next few days. Yves, Beatrice, and their children were more welcoming than we could have asked for and certainly did their part to make the trip a special one. When riding in France in November there’s little that melts the sharp edges of a long, 40 degree day in the saddle as well a good massage.  Unfortunately, daily massages were not in the cards, though our gracious host offering comfy couches, a roaring fire, and glasses of Champagne upon our arrival in La Ciotat came pretty damn close.  The cassoulet and red wine that followed topped off our fuel tanks and made it difficult to stay fully awake through the excellent cheese course.

La Ciotat Day 1

The night before, Yves had remarked that “it doesn’t rain in La Ciotat,” which is why it was surprising that we woke to grey skies, 30mph+ winds, and the occasional downpour.  No matter, we only had four days in country and we were getting on the bikes no matter what.  Post Nutella/baguette breakfast, the crew + Yves bundled up and hit the road.  Yves asked whether we wanted to start “along the water” or “into the hills.”  Nursing an injury or two and pretty tired from the day before we opted for the “water” route.  This turned out to be a wise choice as very little is flat in this area of the country and not riding “in the hills” meant that our uphill stints were 1-5k instead of 10k+.  Even though visibility wasn’t 100%, the rolling terrain provided stunning views of the calanques along the coast and the often-terraced vineyards of world renowned red-wine appellation of Bandol that made up the inland scenery of the Castellait.

It turns out that Yves picked an awesome route with scenery that continually changed from historic seaside towns like Sanary-sur-Mer to the beginnings of a pretty decent climb (you’ll note he said “start” along the water).  While this wasn’t a Hors Categorie 12% climb of average gradient, it was reasonably steep and a notable contrast to the gentle rollers of Saint-Cyr and Ollioules.  The landscape alongside the many switchbacks changed almost as quickly as the pitch of the road — from Mediterranean scrub to pine trees, and our uphill efforts were ultimately rewarded at the summit with a stunning, if foggy, view back to the sea.

A fast descent and some good old fashioned hammering in the flats got us back to La Ciotat by 1pm, leaving plenty of time for us to reflect on the morning’s efforts with a 3 hour lunch of freshly-caught grilled fish and the locally famous Brazoucade (Mussels, Shrimp, a ton of Roquefort cheese, aioli, and the occasional veggie… oh yeah and frites) in the Old Port neighborhood of La Ciotat.  After feasting, we went out in search of the now obligatory mid-afternoon (outstanding) French pasty and (horrendous) Tabac coffee.  The first bit of downtime on the trip, a tour of the Guivarch compound, a short hike out to the cliffs that mark the end of the continent, and another excellent host-provided family meal rounded out a noteworthy day.

La Ciotat Day 2

Yves had saved the best for last as the day’s ride would earn the right to be called the “Queen stage” of the trip.   His incredibly outgoing and friendly nature was balanced by a tendency for understatement, especially when it comes to estimating and communicating gradient (this tendency could also just be an indication of how hard-core he is). On this day, he mentioned that it was “a bit uphill at the start” but I don’t think any of us were prepared for 1,500 feet of climbing in the first two and a half miles of the day.  The good news was that our immediate discomfort was rewarded with some of the most incredible scenery we’ve ever seen on the bike.

And so it continued for the rest of the day along the Route de Cretes and beyond: calanques, gear busting climbs, harrowing descents with hairpin switchbacks sans guardrails (signed as high as 30% grade!), quaint seaside towns like Cassis … and we only scratched the surface of what the area has to offer.  Words don’t do it justice, so we’ll end here and let the pictures do the talking.

 

A hearty thanks again to Yves and Beatrice for making us feel like La Ciotat was our home for 48 hours!  Until next time….