2001- MTB in Languedoc

Biking trip in Montagne Noire and Parc du Haut Languedoc

July 29 -August 03, 2001

(Peter - Jacques)

Saturday July 28,2001

Drove from Nice to Dourgne where Betsy and I had lunch and reserved a room for the night for Peter and me. Thereafter I drove Betsy to Puycelsi where her music week with Vickie was taking place. I drove to Toulouse to buy at Decathlon a bike computer and to have diner with my god-daughter Anne  and her friend Nacho, then met Peter at Toulouse airport, and took him to Dourgne for the nite.


Sunday:

We woke up around 08:00 and after breakfast, packed, organised gear and installed bike computer, checked brakes etc. We departed at 10:00 towards Artons. The road was going up and up and it soon became apparent that the seat was not quite to Peter anatomy's liking. Landscape was nice as we rose steadily about Dourgne. After 1.5-2 hours of riding we decided it was ridiculous for Peter to be sore and continue being a "whinging pom" (his own words!) and agreed he would go back to Dourgne, load his bike in the car and meet me in Lacombe where we would install his own seat.
The road between Artons and Lacombe was beautiful through beech forests, great views, French picnickers seating in the shade with all impediments (folding chairs and table, plus moult food and liquids) either for lunch or siesta. Temperatures were high but still bearable.
I arrived in Lacombe (elev. around 900 meter) a few minutes before Peter (good timing on both parts!) and we found a local to loan us some tools to install Peter's seat. It made a big difference to him and we could envisage continuing the trip. We went for a beer and sandwich lunch at La Gadaube. Shortly after Lacombe we stopped for a nap in a field. The road to Montolieu was going downhill and as we came down we felt like going through layers of heat, when we reached the valley it must have been 40 degrees Celsius! We continued to Brousses where we visited a hand-made paper factory in a nice setting with water and shade, good cooling site. Then on small roads to Escousselles, and the main road to Villardonel. That was a great asphalt road (good for car rally with curves and all) and on to Salsignes. Peter was reaching the point where it would be good to stop (to put it mildly) and we checked in a farm (Combes Estremiéres) with rooms. Bad luck! it was closed and the only place the farmer suggested was 15 km away. I called (great to have a cellphone on those occasions!) and reserved 2 rooms at hotel de la Poste in Villegailhenc, 10 kms north of Carcassone. It was uphill for 3 km followed by a long downhill and the welcomed sight of "hotel de la Poste". Shower, beers and diner put things in order. After diner I asked what was the local liqueur and the patron offered us his homemade eau de vie de vin made by a bouilleur de cru, an excellent eau de vie indeed. Chat with the patron and another guest until 22:30! Bed was welcome.
Total kms for the day 65.

Monday:

It looks like a beautiful and warm day in perspective. After a good night rest we are feeling rejuvenated.

Start-up of day 2, note Peter's happy smile about his own (more comfortable!) leather bicycle seat!!

Direction Conques-sur-Orbeil to get some contact lenses liquid for Peter and some picnic food for emergencies. Up towards Lastours (site of 4 old ruined castles) in a river valley. We passed chateau de la Vernede with a nice park and a site of wind vanes for electric generation. Lastours was an old mining town, nothing particularly nice about it, saw signs for chambre d'hote, we could thus have avoided about 25-30 km if we had kept going from Salsignes to Lastours last night! Road going up and up, Peter doing a fair bit of walking and we reached Roquefer, a village fleuri very nicely kept while still small and beautiful.

Roquefer nice little village on way to Col de Prades, Peter's torso emerging from stone wall.

We are definitely reaching higher altitudes with pine, beech, and oak forests. Houses built of shistes. Had a picnic of saucisson and cantal at La Bastide Esparbairenque with a water spring nearby to supply much needed water.

Welcome break for picnic, we still are a long way from the top

Temperature is OK but it must be quite hot in the valleys below! We passed Col de Prades and had a real lunch at Pradelles, with beer and wine of course!

Close to Col de Prades, with Pic de Nore (elev 1210 m ) in background.

Decided that was enough riding for the day and checked hotel de Pailhes, as well as chambres d'hôtes in Castang. All full! Only choice was to reach Pic de Nore and go down in the valley to find a hotel. Pic de Nore (elev. 1210 meters) was a long uphill ride (more walking than riding for Peter!) but the view from the top was fantastic (Peter still does not believe the ride up was a piece of cake, as people had told us earlier!). Some mountain bikers recommended the path to St Amans in the valley. We followed their suggestion and had a great downhill ride (maybe 10-15 kms) to St Amans. Only hotel in town was closed (G. D… it! why do they close in the mist of tourist season), and pharmacy suggested hotel de l'Oustalet in Lacabarede some 10 kms further, I called (thanks again cellphone) and confirmed the two rooms. Hotel OK but next to route nationale and noisy. Beer, pastis and diner before a well-deserved rest.
Total for the day 62 kms

Tuesday

Local intelligence collected during diner last night: there is a nice hotel at Col de Cabaretou in our general direction, also Minerve is a great Medieval village.
We took route nationale N112 with its heavy traffic to La Brugas from where we rode on an old unused R.R. track to Labastide-Rouairoux, stopped at tourist bureau, obtained various phone numbers and called to make reservation at "hotel du Col de Cabaretou" for two nites. This provided a welcome security as to where we were going to sleep. Road was another uphill struggle under a pretty intense sun, going up from the valley through nice forests and great landscapes; I could see Pic de Nore across the valley. We were feeling the impact of heat and physical efforts. We stopped at a crossroads close to Dolmen de la Gante for a bite and some water, and branched off on a small trail in the forest. Found a clean spring where we had a bite and plenty of water, most welcome spring of the trip!

The most welcome spring of the trip, turned out to be perfectly safe drinking water!

Kept going on this beautiful trail under tree cover, had a nap, crossed D55, passed La Blanque a center for orphans, now abandoned, and encountered problems with inaccurate map (usual with these 1/50,000 maps!), followed our gut feeling and reached Les Martinets.

Learning and putting in practise local customs

A few kms more and we reached Col de Cabaretou (elev. 941 m) and the hotel "Le Cabaretou" [phone: 0033-4 6797 0231, www.grand-sud.com/cabaretou]. Nice location, cool weather and pleasant hostess. Beer, pastis and a game of dice before diner.

Learning local customs (2nd lecture) and getting better at the exercise, still more practise needed!

Diner a rather elaborate affair, and when I asked for pasta, they said they did not carry this item!!!! A nice red Saint Chinian wine made us recover our energy.
Total for the day a much more reasonable 27 km!


Wednesday

To-day will be a resting day, the plan is to ride around Lake de Vezoles, have a swim, go to Fraisse and return to hotel.
We first bought a 1.5 litre bottle of water, which we should have done on the first day! and took dirt trails through forest staying at constant level, passed great rock formations amidst heather fields.

French hospitality at its best, providing a reminder of Scottish landscape for our distinguished visitor.

All of this under beautiful weather and a bright sun which would have been unpleasant in a valley! We reached Saut-de-Vezoles, a break in the rocks with a good point de vue of valley and mountains across, rode around the lake, found a good spot and had a refreshing swim. We continued through forests on dirt roads and reached Col de la Bane (alt 1020 m). Long downhill on asphalt road to Fraisse-sur-Agout for lunch where we met a bunch of bikers who had already done 90 km in the morning and were going to do another 50-60 in the afternoon!!! Lunch during which we polished off a liter of rosé and cleaned our plates thoroughly. We inquired at tourist info how to return via small and mostly flat roads to Cabaretou. The girl was most helpful, suggested a track and marked it on a copy of IGN 1/25,000 detailed map she made for us.
Had a nap along the river (the heat was really hard to bear by then) and off to find the small trail mentioned by the tourist office lady. Reached Font-Caude where the owner said it was a private property, and put us on wrong track. We realised it very soon and went scouting for the trail. Finally found it, backtracked and saw it was going right through the garden where the owners had eliminated all traces of the track. We sneaked through the garden to pick track and found it clustered with a few fallen down trees. Further on that track, we met a family riding donkeys who were going in the reverse direction on our trail and warned them about the missing track and lady. (I have to write to tourist bureau and mayor of Fraisse to inform them of the situation). Track in the forest was great and with the detailed map it was easy to find one's way. Reached Lignieres Hautes and continued on dirt track to Baissescure, near Lac de Vezoles, and rode a long downhill asphalt road all the way to the hotel. Could only find one of the gloves I had lost in the morning.
Total for the day 33 km


Thursday

Nite was quite windy and this morning we have clouds and a few drops of rain, weather has definitely changed, cooler and less sunny. Returned to Le Moulinet and took small roads to Le Soulie, Vieille Morte, etc. Peter had a strange noise on his bike, which we could not identify or fix. His seat was getting loose, I tried to tighten it but could not do a proper job without right tool and he had to ride uneasily. The plan was to have lunch at base nautique on Lac des saint Peyres as it would shorten the total distance, betting that it was open and that there would be a restaurant of some sort (reasonable bet considering it was full tourist season). The bet did not work as base nautique was closed, no lunch, nothing, fortunately a camper loaned us a proper wrench and I could at least fix Peter's seat. Clouds deterred us from a swim, and we took an asphalt road (pretty rough surface) to Le Banquet, again map was inaccurate but we were lucky and guessed the right road. Long downhill ride for a few km until we passed Cucussac (crossing heat layers as we came down), Bout-du-Pont-de-l'Arn and finally Mazamet, pretty unexciting city where the thermometer read 43 degrees at 15:00, much to Peter's surprise. We shacked at hotel du Boulevard. Had a few drinks on the town, visited tourist bureau where there was a show of models, made by an old man who spent hours and hours (years in fact!), of local castles such as those around Lastours or the city of Minerve, quite interesting. Diner at hotel with wine and pastis!!! A quick digestive tour revealed a pretty sleepy Mazamet by 21:30!
Total for the day 57 kms



Friday

Cooler night, and a downright winter looking morning, low, very low clouds, and rain. Peter happily declared that to be what a real summer day should be like, he was glad to show off his brand new day-glow green biking jacket!!. We definitely wanted to avoid route nationale and opted for a small road up the valley where many old leather and wool mills were operating at the turn of the century. Numerous abandoned buildings, signs of pollution, not a pretty valley, but it was bringing us up while avoiding traffic. Misty rain, clouds all around us, all perfect for Peter, who was riding his bike all the way, no more walking! Arrived at Lac des Montagnes, at least we think we did since we never saw it (because of the clouds, visibility approx. 10-15 meter!)

Further evidence of French hospitality! or how to make a Scott feel at home in southern France.

Peter was happier and happier with the weather! We took a great track in the forest where we met a hiker as well as a group of mountain bikers covered with mud going in opposite direction. We reached an asphalt road and had a fantastic downhill ride through a beech forest to Lacombe where we found the car. Dismantled bikes, loaded them, had lunch in Puylaurens and found after a bit of searching a hotel right next to airport. Dried up the gear, left for diner in Toulouse where we had drinks, beer and pastis as usual, and a pleasant if slow diner. Went to bed early to get up at 05:30 the next morning to drop Peter at airport.
Total for the day 31 km


Conclusions

It was hot and hot and hot. Peter was a bit out of shape (or my programme was a bit too ambitious) and the bike was not the perfect fit for him. We encountered some problems with hotels which were closed (strange in mid tourist season) or which were full (to be expected at this time of year). We should have had more water and with advanced reservations could have taken a rest during the hottest part of the day, riding early or late in the day. However this would have negated some of the adventurous spirit of the trip. Nice region with great tracks, beautiful forests, good food and wine.
Total distance covered, about 300 km in 6 days, seems about right. I noticed that average is always (no matter what we plan/do or whom I go with) around 50 km a day!