Day 4 – Avignon: Train(ing) Wheels and an Early Departure [updated]

And now we’re four…Mitch and Hanna, who had only planned a short version of the Provence trip, are leaving for Singapore today.  It was great(!) spending time with them and they will be missed.  They did promise they would follow and comment on the blog when they returned home (after recovering from the 12-hour flight of course).

Speaking of our fellow cyclists—and after today’s ride I feel comfortable referring to us as cyclists and not just guys on bikes—John is a one of those pushers of envelopes and is actually going off the page and ADDING k’s to his daily rides (uphill k’s!). We’re definitely impressed and are going to try this ourselves…um, on our next cycling vacation.

Lyn, our coordinator/guide (and menu translator), has been great.  He gives us the info we need without making it too easy for us, and likes—maybe too much :-)—to take us out of our comfort zone.  He definitely represents what we had come to expect from Blue Marble when working with Nicolas (Blue Marble  - Paris) and Lesley (Blue Marble – New Jersey) in planning this trip.

Now, about today’s trip...if you recall I mentioned we had some options. We could:
    A.    Ride to Avignon and back (over 80 k)
    B.    Ride to La Fontaine de Vaucluse (about 30 k)
    C.    Take a day off and take the train
    D.    Some combination of the three

We chose “D” the combo trip—train out and cycle back. We took the train with Lyn, and Mitch and Hanna to Avignon where they were to spend a few hours before heading home. The medieval walled city was definitely worth the trip.  After spending time exploring the city, we had a nice lunch and planned our trip back—train to La Fontaine and cycle 14 k home, or cycle back from Avignon at about 40 k.

We were feeling pretty good, so we decided to go the longer route. After a finding our way out of the walled city, we were on our way back along the suggested route…over the bridge, past the gypsy camp, and along the river.

Everything was going well until I felt the bike was handling a bit differently.  I looked down and—yep, a flat.  We were all sent out with a replacement tube AND a patch kit (I suppose in case you get two flats). Hanna had her flat the first day riding out of Nimes, so I figured it was just a matter of time. Fortunately, Lyn gave us all the quick tube replacement tutorial in Arles, so it was not a big deal (it had been MANY years since I had fixed a flat bike tire).

Flat fixed in under 15 minutes…I would have taken a “look what I did!” picture, but the camera was in my handlebar bag and my bike was upside down. 

The ride back was through a number of small towns: Graveson, Eyragues, Verquieres, and Saint Andiol. Nothing particularly spectacular to see in any of them--at least from our route--but it was a nice ride. And we mapped it ourselves…no prepared route sheet on this trip, just “here’s how you get to the road out, now pull out your map and find your way home.”  Well, they gave some hints, but still…

One piece of advice from the sheet we missed was the note to "stay off the ERR at all costs (it is really unsafe)." At one point we had a choice...the busy road going in the direction we were headed, or the quieter road that appeared to be heading the wrong direction.

Seems they both would have worked, but we took the busier on the two. It wasn't until we reached Graveson that we realized the "busy" road we were on WAS the ERR (basically a highway). We'll definitely pay closer attention to those notes going forward.

Dinner this night was at a Moroccan restaurant in Cavaillon. It was delicious (another good choice Lyn). As usual we got our next day’s route sheet at dinner.  This sheet gives some history on the various cities/towns, options for base/extended rides, tips for what to see (and what to skip), and basic instructions on how to get to the next location.

The next day’s route sheet was a bit, ah…scary. It is only 48 k, but there is a lot of uphill.  The route will to take us through a number of small ‘fortress’ towns. Should be interesting...

Day 4 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Loop Day (Variable k)
• Actual Ride - 40 k
• Lunch - Avignon
• To Remember - Flat tire, Gypsy camp(s), Avignon city, St. Andiol, Getting lost and Riding on the ERR (by mistake)

Comments

[Nathan]

gypsy camp? did you take photos of this? i thought they were only things of "old"? do they still live in camps? that is actually kind of cool....

ride safely!

[Gary B]

Hmmm....." was going well.." "gypsy camp along the river"...Sounds ominous...but hope not.

[Steven]

It was a flat tire shortly after we passed the gypsies. We were 'warned' a number of times about them. They live in groups of trailers which are fenced in and usually at the edge of a field or orchard.

I would have taken pictures, but Lyn told us about the time the gypsies let their dogs loose on him as he was riding by. We were going to snap some pics, but weren't about to take the chance....the dogs that were there looked/sounded mean.