Bike Tour 1 - Navarrenx, Oloron, Tardets, etc.
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2006
1
8
26
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
Countryside of the SW,
France
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Today I completed my first-ever overnight road bicycling trip. Touring, cyclo-tourism, bicycle camping, what have you, is a great way to experience the sights and sounds of the places you visit. As a longtime backpacker, ardent traveler, and lifelong cyclist, bicycle touring seemed the ideal way to mix the first-hand, intimate feel of walking with more time-efficient modes of speedier transportation like planes, trains, and automobiles.
That said, on to the trip...
I left our front door in Aussurucq, France at around 2:30 PM on Monday, May 22, with the hodge-podge of bags on my trusty Novara Randonee loaded to the gills with all of the stuff that a backpacking trip would involve:
· stove and gas, matches, cooking ware, food, water treatment
· cold- and wet-weather gear (although not enough of it)
· sleeping bag and pad, tent and tarp, spare clothes
· digital camera, novel (Conrad's The Secret Agent)
· compass, 1:250,000 regional map
· flashlight (which I almost forgot - thanks, Mere), watch, ID, cash
Additionally, bicycling long distances requires the rider to carry a small multi-tool, mini-pump, and patch kit or spare tire for the occasional repair. Wanting to get on the road quite hurriedly, I did my best to jinx my well-being by forgetting the first aid kit. Happily, not a single cut, bruise, bump, or break came out of this ride - though next time I'll remember to get a checklist before heading out.
Aussurucq, population 261 including Meredith and me, has a backdrop of beautiful scenery that draws tourists of all kinds from throughout Europe, and features some pretty hilly terrain on all sides.
01 Bearn des Gaves
Riding the first leg of my loop trip down the most difficult of them was helpful in establishing a good pedaling cadence, but more importantly, a bit of buoyancy while looking down at the cyclo-computer's speed readings. (Unfortunately, I'd have to ride up the same hill to finish the trip, with what felt to be an extra 50 to 60 pounds of gear - in truth, none - than when I started!)I arrived in Mauleon-Licharre, the largest and capital city of the Soule, a region of French Basque Country that is the focus of Meredith's anthropology research, thirty minutes later, averaging 13 mph. Since I've spent a little bit of time in Mauleon already (and had already cycled there with camera in pocket), I pedaled on through to the next town on my itinerary, Navarrenx.
The trip from Mauleon to Navarrenx was quite difficult, with plenty of uphill and what seemed like a disproportionately small amount of coasting down (I'll have to check the respective elevations once we get a topo map). Funny how this makes for some of the best scenery - I suppose the "commanding" views that travel writers love to admire have to come from somewhere, but I also think the value of having gotten yourself up there in the first place helps. I passed green pasture, freshly plowed brown crop fields, historic towns with their historic homes and sometimes-imposing churches, and lots of cows and sheep, all under a gorgeous blue sky. The weather from Aussurucq to Navarrenx was fantastic, and I never felt cold or hot wearing shorts and a long-sleeved skin-tight shirt under a looser-fitting short-sleeved athletic shirt.
02 The Ride
Navarrenx is an incredibly charming old city that retains its original ramparts and some other interesting structures. Situated along the Gave (river) d'Oloron, the historic centre ville features several restaurants, cafes, pubs, and other eating and drinking establishments, as well as assorted other retail joints (a bakery, newsstand, and gallery all stand out). Thanks to local revitalization efforts, the church and Hotel de Ville (city hall) sit at the center of a hopping district that also features a great outdoor market on Sundays.
Thanks to what I thought to be impending weather, I hung around underneath a roof in the center of the ramparts awaiting rain. Finally, after almost an hour of pacing back and forth between my new shelter and the nearby place (square, plaza) to check the sky, rain broke. This made me happy for not venturing out into the storm, but also a bit regretful for having stuck around so long. The rain continued for another hour or so, and I was ready to get back in the saddle once it stopped.
Heading out of Navarrenx, I noticed signage for plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities, from swimming and mountain biking to rafting and camping a la ferme (farm camping). The Gave is a striking classic trout stream with trails and some historic (getting tired of that word yet?) mills and canals along it, and it indeed helps qualify the town as a destination for natural fun and games.
While I was happy to be riding again, my legs were somewhat tired and unresponsive from the difficult trek into town and the long wait in the cold.
03 The Road into Navarrenx
This 12-mile section was a steady but gradual climb into the larger city of Oloron-Sainte Marie. Along the way, I ran into some precipitation that was just heavy enough to provide a good chill but light enough not to make a difference in my riding for very long. The scenery, while not particularly inspiring, was nice enough, and the setting sun behind me provided perfect light for taking pictures. Unfortunately, at this point I was getting worried about finding anywhere to camp, not having seen ads for camping in quite some time, and I decided not to stop for many shots. Passing a gypsy tent/RV settlement was an interesting sight, as was an immature hawk hovering over a nearby field. I pushed on past the gypsies (a little bit faster now) looking left and right for a suitable place to set up camp, and once I began to see new housing construction and suburban development, I knew I had come too far.
I pressed on for a couple more minutes to see if I could find a camping sign, but to no avail, and by this point I had already made it into the city limits of Oloron. Having visited once before, I recalled it as a very hilly city (I realized the next day that it's not), and not wanting to put my legs through any more uphill than I had already suffered, I turned back toward Navarrenx and decided to do a better job of scouting. Now it was getting near sundown and three miles into my retracing, I had not yet found a suitable campsite. A half-mile later, I decided to settle for a roadside picnic area, and hid my bike and myself behind a large tree and waited for sundown to cook dinner and pitch the tent.
Around 9:45, I had just finished a not-so-lovely pasta dish with garlic and herbes de provence, as well as some bread and cheese that I had bought in Navarrenx, when I decided it was dark enough to begin setting up the tent without such a high chance of being seen and told to leave.
04 Crossing the Gave d'Oloron
This only took a couple of minutes, and after stowing all of my gear inside, laying out my sleeping bag and pad, and deciding not to worry about doing dishes until I returned home, I hit the sack around 10:30. Thanks to constant worrying about being caught, arrested for after-hours use, deported, etc., I wasn't exactly in a sleeping state of mind. This, plus a virtual chorus of birds, nearby traffic, and some boisterous kids who had to have seen my tent, contributed to lying awake for a good two or three hours before drifting off for a half-hour or so. I woke up to the itchy eyes and runny nose that my allergies have been so kind to provide for me since arriving in France over a month ago, and found it impossible to get back to sleep for another eternity. When my watch alarm went off at 6:00 - I wanted to get out of there before I was caught, arrested, etc. - I found that I had actually been asleep for a bit. All told, I guess that I slept for not much longer than two hours. This little sleep coupled with a difficult previous day of riding does not make for much fun on the road.
I had collected my wits, changed clothes, packed up camp, brushed my teeth, and started rolling again by a few minutes before 7:00, and began to undo my backtracking by heading back toward Oloron under a dismal grey sky. Although it seems to have most of the amenities that people would expect for a town of its size surrounded by a largely agricultural area, Oloron could be prettier. There are surely positives from a livability/aesthetic standpoint, such as a beautiful public garden and some nice vistas from where the river cuts through town, but all-told, I would rather spend time in Navarrenx or Mauleon.
05 Entering Navarrenx
With a run of the mill chocolate croissant in my belly and itching to get out of the weather and into some dry clothes (although I must admit that the yellow lenses from my sunglasses really did a fine job not only of making it easier to see but also of picking up my spirits), I headed toward a smaller town called Aramits, about which I have nothing interesting to say.
Past Aramits and on to Tardets-Sorholus. Tardets is a nice little town that I have already seen, and therefore I did not have the desire to circuit through the centre ville and back again toward the road home. The only noteworthy part about this portion of the trip is that, finally, the gods of topography had doled out to me some nice and easy downhill to rest up my legs for the grueling climb back to Aussurucq. This final stretch took me through a couple of smaller towns and up two resolve-testing hills that have made my knees so sore and weak that I literally fell into my seat to write this.
Overall, this was a nice introduction to the world of bicycle touring. I could have slept a lot more, that's for sure. Also, while the weather could have been worse, here's hoping that future trips will be sunnier and warmer, and while I'm at it, that there'll be rather more downhill and less joint-killing uphill - the price to pay for riding a loop in the foothills of the Pyrenees. But the scenery in this area can be spectacular, ranging from close-ups of hawks perched on barbed-wire fences and bright, rocky rivers, to far-off views of the great snow-capped mountains themselves. I also met a few very nice people on my little trip, which is another great benefit to this kind of travel - people see you as more approachable with a big hunk of metal covered in gear at your side. One gentleman even thanked me and told me that I was nice for visiting France, and another commented on my Merrell shoes, a pair of which he had bought last time he was in the US. These are the kind of tourism experiences that make your trip more than a collection of things you've seen.
Vital Stats:
· total elapsed time - ~21h
· total riding time - 06:20:03
· total distance cycled - 63.928mi.
· maximum speed - 30.5mph
· average speed - a measly 10.1mph
· hours of sleep - less than 2
· number of times lost - 0
· number of times walked bike - 0 (except wandering around towns)
· pages of The Secret Agent read - 4
As always, comments or questions are welcome via email.
