Riding Under a Monster Heat Dome

 

Yes, that’s us in the red zone

Many have asked us how we’re coping with the worst heat wave on record in France. Funnily enough the rides aren’t the hard part. We leave about 9am, ride mostly in forested areas, and arrive about noon. The hardest part is the total lack of air conditioning and the long afternoons sweltering in your hotel room waiting for the sun to set at 10pm.

We’ve spent quite a bit of time figuring out new routes on the fly in order to avoid the heat dome that has descended upon us. Dennis is a whiz at recalculating our designated route to get to higher elevation and avoiding open roads, and I’ve become pretty adept at figuring out rail/bus lines to fill in the gaps and finding new hotels. It’s funny/fortuitous how we have acquired such a strict division of labor on these trips.  You really become 2 halves of a whole, and neither of us would function properly separately.  If we ever switched roles, Dennis would lose all his belongings, and I would get us lost and probably perish on the trail.

The view from our bedroom. These tiny villages have huge cathedrals built for the pilgrims who travel these roads - even to this day. We have come across many markers for the Camino de Santiago on our travels. 

Castle pictures are very important when you have grandchildren 

This was Montpeyroux at 99 degrees. No one was out except us, fruitlessly looking for a meal. It was this town that convinced us not to stay in small villages anymore, no matter how quaint. Reliable, local sources of food are mandatory when you only have a bike for transportation! 

Now this was a meal! Even though it was 95 degrees we indulged in local hot cheese and potato dishes designed for the snowy winters. We didn’t eat all that meat 😳

We had been traveling for over 2 weeks and hadn’t heard any English spoken, so imagine our surprise when a man at the table next to us asked us, in English, about our ride. He was a French man named Jacques who had been living in Italy for 40 years and married to  woman from Davenport, Iowa. He was also riding the GTMC, on his own, and not for the first time - and he’s 83 years old!!  We rode most of the next day with him, and departed feeling more optimistic than ever that we can continue these rides for many more years.  

Our new friend and role model, Jacques

On the very hottest day of this heat dome, we were going to do the iconic climb up Puy de Dome, in addition to an already long day of climbing. (Each year we try to do a famous Tour de France climb.) Alas, the ride is now closed to bikers except one day a year, which wasn’t this day. I can’t say I was that devastated not to add 2,000’ of climb on a 98 degree day. I pretended to be disappointed 😉

We met up with our very good friends Karen and Joe. They’re traveling throughout France for 6 months. 

They met us with a nice picnic lunch at the end of our ride!

We’ve come to the end of the mountain bike portion of our ride along the GTMC, having crossed in and out of 3 national parks: the Morvan, the Volcans d’Auvergne and the Cevennes. The scenery is stunning, and the people are so very nice. The French truly value their environment, and conservation and accessibility remain high priorities.

One beautiful trail after another 

One of my favorite of the many helpful signs posted along our route - suggesting tips for avoiding being bitten by a dog guarding a herd. The best one is the lower right!

We’ve reached the Tarn River!