As the mists rose out of Estaing, so did we. Andy decided to stay in the hotel to write postcards, with the intention of cycling at twice the speed of sound to catch us up a little later. We were somewhat dubious about this happening, but he was determined to send his snail mail home. The gradient continued upwards through pretty countyside on the D556 towards Espallion. A rare navigational error saw us climbing out of Espallion, away from the river, but Peter and John quickly spotted this and we descended back into the town to take the correct road following the river. A steep climb took us past rewarding views, and we finally reached a very welcome café at the summit in Lassouts. Relaxing into shaded chairs,drinking a long Citron Pressé, cooled our glowing muscles after the arduous climb. Much to our amazement, Andy arrived almost simultaneously, like a steaming racehorse, much in need of refreshment and rest. He must have cycled like the wind. 
An unclassified road took us past a lovely farm. We had a long and speedy blast along a main road for a while, before our second long climb of the day. Numerous stops were made to take photos, spot birds, Orchids and other delights as nature provided us with a visual feast.
John has now trained us all to scan the verges and pinpoint exotic species. This newly aquired skill enabled Simon to quickly identify the Lesser-Spotted Austin Sunglasses, which had made a desperate break for freedom, by hiding in the verge. Sunglasses and thankful owner were reunited after a couple of miles.
We stopped for a well timed picnic lunch at 14.00 at Col de Lagarde. Our energies recharged, we continued along well surfaced roads at good speed. The weather had been the hottest so far, and as we spotted a grey cloud forming in the distance, the temperature started to cool. As we watched, this cloud developed an increasingly menacing appearance. A few spots of rain triggered Peter and John to take precautions and don their rain jackets. Simon and Andy decided that a refreshing drop of rain would bring welcome relief from the heat. After initial enjoyment, the drops grew larger and wetter and, stair-rodding earthwards, caused flash streams to appear in an instant. We quickly realised we had underestimated the ferocity of this electic storm. Visibility reduced to a few yards, John and Andy invisible ahead, Simon waited for Peter to emerge from the deluge. It wasn't possible to get any wetter, so with a quick raising of the eyebrows and shrugging of the shoulders, we decided to battle on through the worsening storm. The rain grew colder and small hailstones started bouncing on the tarmac. As these grew larger, the battering on our helmets sounded like rifle shots, with ears and exposed fingers began to sting. In the thick of this, Peter and Simon spotted a familiar specimen. The Austin sunglasses had expoited the chaos to go awol once more. Peter cycled on as Simon volunteered to recapture the wayward pair. Whilst executing this delicate manoever he crashed to the ground, scattering the precious contents of his bar bag all across the road! The hailstorm intensified, filling the bag with water, and pulverising soaked documents where they lay. The hailstones had grown to over half an inch in diameter, the pain was becoming intolerable, and the noise overwhelming. As soon as all the sodden possessions had been retrieved, Simon hurled himself into a thorny hedge, hands clasped over peppered helmet, to sit out the unforgiving blast from the heavens. Apart from the hedge, the storm had ambushed us on a very exposed limestone plateau, with no other shelter. Peter and Andy had huddled together under a small tree, and as we advanced down the road, we spotted John emerging from the shelter of a roadside barn, to record the bedraggled trio approaching. I began to get a fearful taste of how vunerable it most have felt at Le Somme.
John has now trained us all to scan the verges and pinpoint exotic species. This newly aquired skill enabled Simon to quickly identify the Lesser-Spotted Austin Sunglasses, which had made a desperate break for freedom, by hiding in the verge. Sunglasses and thankful owner were reunited after a couple of miles.
We stopped for a well timed picnic lunch at 14.00 at Col de Lagarde. Our energies recharged, we continued along well surfaced roads at good speed. The weather had been the hottest so far, and as we spotted a grey cloud forming in the distance, the temperature started to cool. As we watched, this cloud developed an increasingly menacing appearance. A few spots of rain triggered Peter and John to take precautions and don their rain jackets. Simon and Andy decided that a refreshing drop of rain would bring welcome relief from the heat. After initial enjoyment, the drops grew larger and wetter and, stair-rodding earthwards, caused flash streams to appear in an instant. We quickly realised we had underestimated the ferocity of this electic storm. Visibility reduced to a few yards, John and Andy invisible ahead, Simon waited for Peter to emerge from the deluge. It wasn't possible to get any wetter, so with a quick raising of the eyebrows and shrugging of the shoulders, we decided to battle on through the worsening storm. The rain grew colder and small hailstones started bouncing on the tarmac. As these grew larger, the battering on our helmets sounded like rifle shots, with ears and exposed fingers began to sting. In the thick of this, Peter and Simon spotted a familiar specimen. The Austin sunglasses had expoited the chaos to go awol once more. Peter cycled on as Simon volunteered to recapture the wayward pair. Whilst executing this delicate manoever he crashed to the ground, scattering the precious contents of his bar bag all across the road! The hailstorm intensified, filling the bag with water, and pulverising soaked documents where they lay. The hailstones had grown to over half an inch in diameter, the pain was becoming intolerable, and the noise overwhelming. As soon as all the sodden possessions had been retrieved, Simon hurled himself into a thorny hedge, hands clasped over peppered helmet, to sit out the unforgiving blast from the heavens. Apart from the hedge, the storm had ambushed us on a very exposed limestone plateau, with no other shelter. Peter and Andy had huddled together under a small tree, and as we advanced down the road, we spotted John emerging from the shelter of a roadside barn, to record the bedraggled trio approaching. I began to get a fearful taste of how vunerable it most have felt at Le Somme.
We dried out on the magical descent through the valley to Boyne, which impressed Peter as looking like a "Lost Kingdom". The road drop swiftly for over four miles, then lead us through a gorge that gave us a fantastic "5 Star" ride, before arriving at Millau. We had a timetable to maintain, as European Cup Final Champions League was being played in the evening between Liverpool and Milan. Milan won 2-1.
"First goal to Milan........!"
"Drinks all round anyway!
2 comments:
All has gone quiet....... hope all is well, and you get/have got to Montpellier OK. I have been following your journey.
Perhaps the celebratory vinos have got in the way of the final blog.....
Would like to know what happened next.
Best wishes
Some great shots of the village, and again, no smiley Simon :(
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