{"id":2107,"date":"2023-01-05T10:26:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T10:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bendingtherules.co.uk\/home\/?page_id=2107"},"modified":"2023-01-07T12:35:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T12:35:35","slug":"to-the-med-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bendingtherules.co.uk\/home\/to-the-med-5\/","title":{"rendered":"To the Med \u2013 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

< To the Med \u2013 4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Med \u2013 6 ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyon to The Med<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Day 32 \u2013 Lyon – St Pierre De Boeuf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After four days in Lyon, we moved on, following the Rh\u00f4ne south. Because of the delays I wasn’t sure that we had time to get to Mont Ventoux now, as we had to reach Marciac by the 24th August for the start of the International Tandem Rally. We had a chalet booked at the campsite there for the week of the Rally. If we had any more time-consuming mechanicals, I was worried that we wouldn’t make it. After discussing with Karon, we decided to leave Mt Ventoux for another time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saint Romain en Gal. With high ground close to the river, often on both sides, there wasn’t always the option of a cycle path, but most of the roads were fairly quiet. Just after this photo a chap came up and started chatting. He was most impressed that we’d cycled all the way from the UK and asked for some photos and said he would try to follow our progress on social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Riding on top of one of the many dykes that run beside the river in many places. The bottom of the dyke was lower than the river level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wherever flat flood-plain appeared, there were fruit farms with a variety of crops. The campsite ‘Camping de la L\u00f4ne’ was a bit strange. Many of the pitches seemed permanent, or at least as if they were there for the whole summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 32 \u2013 St Pierre De Boeuf to Valence<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not long after setting off we could see this nuclear power station on the opposite bank and upstream a little way from our campsite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Coffee stop at Andanacette and we met another tandem couple touring from the Netherlands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Fruit trees beside the Rh\u00f4ne and a good path to follow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lunch stop in a little picnic area. The sound of the cicadas was pretty insistent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Lunch. Coffee, Baby Bell cheese, quiche and artichoke hearts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Tain-l’Hermitage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after passing through Tain-l’Hermitage we turned away from the river, close to the river Is\u00e8re. The only campsite I could find in the area was a few miles back from the river. When we turned up, we were told it was full. I tried to persuade them that they could squeeze a two-man tent in, but they said it was impossible, because of the insurance, so we refilled our water bottles and I used the WiFi to go onto Booking.com. We found an apartment in Valence, just another 5 miles away, near the centre, so we mounted up and I took the most direct route I could. There was an underground car park for the bike and the apartment had a washing machine which we put to good use. Later we walked around the local area and found somewhere to eat, then explored a little more before heading back to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Valence, Parc Jouvet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Valence, Parc Jouvet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 33 \u2013 Valence to Montelimar (Anc\u00f4ne)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reasonably early start \u2013 breakfast at 8:00 with stuff we’d bought the evening before in a late-opening supermarket we passed on the way back to the apartment after the Parc. Got away just after 9:00. Stopped at a supermarket for a few bits then left Valence via the industrial area, eventually we got onto farm roads near the river, running through peach and apricot orchards. It was a lot prettier than the main road but less direct.
At Le Pouzin we crossed the river in search of lunch and eventually got lucky with a \u20ac9 menu de jour. Then we crossed a barrage onto a long island with a good road and only a little traffic. This took us four or five miles before another barrage delivered us to the east bank where the campsite was… however, we had to run along a very busy road for several miles. Still, a really good tailwind and the backdraft from the traffic meant we had a really good pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puncture to the rear tire 50 yards before campsite entrance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mountains in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ch\u00e2teau de La Voulte-Sur-Rhone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Across the river, the department of the Ard\u00e8che.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 34 \u2013 Anc\u00f4ne to St. Nazaire<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unable to find a riverside campsite we had opted for one on a tributary near Bagnols-sur-C\u00e8ze. The problem was, there were some hills between us and our destination. I should have taken a longer, flatter option around the hills \u2013 hindsight is a wonderful thing. We rode well in the morning, stopping early for lunch as Karon\u2019s blood sugar was low \u2013 I am pretty sure the boiled egg I had was off. Also short of water, we rode UP into a town and found a bar with a bunch of cyclists outside and joined them for a drink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting off again we were riverside for a while then cut away and headed for our campsite. The flat approaches before we got to the hills afforded great views of Mt Ventoux in the distance. Then, on the climb, everything went pear shaped. I started feeling queezy then throwing up. After several bouts I was severely dehydrated and couldn’t even stand any more, so I asked Karon to get help. She went to the nearest house and they called an ambulance and Karon came too, leaving the bike with our new acquaintances. I was put on a drip and given an anti-sickness pill and after about four hour’s sleep was fine. Our saviours had got their English son-in-law to get a van, load the bike and trailer into it then come to the hospital to collect us, dropping us at the campsite! He told the Dutch site owner what had happened \u2013 we had notified them of our delayed arrival \u2013 and we got a nice shady pitch near the facilities. Doc said no riding for three days, so we had another enforced delay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crossing the Canal de D\u00e9rivation de Mont\u00e9limar, looking south, after leaving the campsite a little way upstream at Anc\u00f4ne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Rh\u00f4ne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The ill-fated lunch stop where I am pretty sure I picked up a bit of food poisoning. It took a couple of hours to do its worst.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A little later in Bourg Saint And\u00e9ol. When we arrived there were a load of cyclists and we sat with them until they went off on their ride.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mt Ventoux in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our camping spot for the next three nights after my trip to A&E. Doctor’s orders… no riding for a few days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 38 \u2013 Bagnols-sur-C\u00e8ze to Avignon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mt Ventoux above the cloud as we left the campsite near Bagnols sur C\u00e8ze. It was only about 22 miles to Avignon, so we had an easy day to get back into the swing of things. We’d also decided to try and reduce the daily mileage a little so we weren’t out in the heat so much.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Avignon from the bridge over the Rh\u00f4ne. The campsite was a little way out of the town, expensive and with only a pizza bar, so once the tent was up we rode back into town to explore. It was very busy and finding somewhere to eat was tricky but eventually found a small place on a side-street that had choices that would suit Karon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 39 \u2013 Avignon to Belegarde<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying to reduce the amount of time we were out in the midday hours, we left Avignon early by our usual timings. We followed the west bank of the river on a cycle track for some way, as there were quite a few HGVs on the road, making it the less pleasant choice. Left the river to start heading across the Camargue and stopped for coffee at Aramon. In the chemists next door we bought some mineral\/salts sachets to put into the first of our bottles of water, to keep our slats topped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heading for the Camargue, lots of vines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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With plenty of time on our hands, we stopped for some lunch in this place. Nice and cool inside, it kept us out of the sun for a while.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 40 \u2013 Belegarde to Aigues-Mortes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Typical Camargue scene: water, reeds, black cattle and lots of egrets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We arrived at the hotel early again and had to wait until we could get to access to the semi-attached accommodation block we were in. All the rooms were in single-storey out-houses with a small veranda. Perfect for locking the bike up on. Later we ate on the terrace but both got midge bites as a consequence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 41 \u2013 Aigues-Mortes to Fabr\u00e8gues<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Passing the walled town of Aigues Mortes as we set off. If our hotel had been closer, we would have used the afternoon to explore the old city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our first glimpse of the Med at Grande-Motte. We had made it, all the way from home!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Because the campsites were now so expensive \u2013 and busy \u2013 we decided to continue to try for hotels or B&Bs, but the places right by the coast were very expensive. Our room for the night was in a motorway stop-over, about 6 miles inland. Not particularly attractive or welcoming, but it was a bed with bathroom and still better than the tent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

< To the Med \u2013 4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Med \u2013 6 ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

< To the Med \u2013 4 To the Med \u2013 6 > Lyon to The Med Day 32 \u2013 Lyon – St Pierre De Boeuf After four days in Lyon, we moved on, following the Rh\u00f4ne south. Because of the delays I wasn’t sure that we had time to get to Mont Ventoux now, as … <\/p>\n

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