End of the Lure.

Cold Sweats.

Sometimes I run.

Chewing the Fat.

Provence Verte.

A Luberon lavender-scented sunrise, a big old grimp up the ‘hipsters Ventoux’ and a classic French parallel-to-the-autoroute drag before a very inconsistent final climb.
After sweating 37 litres of water yesterday I hit the road before sunrise which is a delight to experience in the southern French countryside. After the first climb I was expecting one of the three bakeries in Cereste to be open at 6:30am but all was quiet. I pressed on the 24km to Forcalquier which may have turned out for the better as I was all the more ready for a very good croissant and decent pain au choc aux almonds. Provence looked and smelled lovely but the authorities have a penchant for laying ‘gravillons’ on hills, which made for some cautious descending.
The Montagne de Lure dominates the days profile, and landscape as I could see the Ventoux-like mast on the summit from miles away. 20km of mostly steady climbing (5.8% avg, a few more grippy kms at 8%) went by reasonably quickly and I found the ascent a much more pleasant experience than Ventoux. Hardly any cars, only one group of motorcyclists and a handful of other cyclists. Most was shaded from the sun, which was very welcome too. In fact the whole day was slightly fresher & more manageable - I even felt a slight chill descending the first climb at a Baltic 14C! The descent from Lure wasn’t the best, the surface often bumpy and a lot of gravillons for a number of kms at the bottom. It was also around here that I noticed my rear brake was requiring a lot of pull before engaging - I put this down to worn pads and resolved to swap them out when I had finished for the day…
A tour in France isn’t complete without a long drag along a straight road, slightly uphill in to a nagging heading. That was the pleasure I had before the final climb - an odd one which only averaged 4-5% but was constantly changing in gradient. One moment pretty flat, the next nearly 10%.
Following a descent trying to mainly use my front brake, I took a look at the rear brake pads. There was still plenty of life in them. I had also however noticed that the hood was slightly loose so pulled it back and noticed a fair bit of liquid. It must have been leaking. When I remounted the wheel, even pulling the lever back all the way want really engaging. The only bike shop in town was supposed to have closed at 3pm and it was now 3:15pm. I thought I’d roll by anyway and saw the door was open. Amazingly the owner went above and beyond to help, ably assisted by his three young apprentices, even though he was supposed to be elsewhere. He attempted to re-fill the hydraulic fluid but the fix isn’t perfect as a part (which he didn’t have) is broken. He’s confident it will see me though for now and I can’t be more grateful for his help - 2 Roues et Demi in Veynes if you are ever nearby. Given tomorrow’s plans, having two working brakes might me sensible!
Up next, a day of either going up or down without much in between. Including a climb I’ve done both many times before but have never really done 🤔.

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Samuel Thompson | Acier,cc

11. Manosque -> Veynes.

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End of the Lure.

Cold Sweats.

Sometimes I run.

Chewing the Fat.

Provence Verte.

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