Shelter From The Storm

June 20, 2010: 36 miles, 2 hours 30 minutes ride time.

View this ride on MapMyRide.

This is a great route, part of which my friend Connie and I rode last year from the opposite direction. Today I was hoping to add on some more mountain villages and was really looking forward to the ride. That all went to hell about one kilometer into the ride.

I left Vence a little after 9:00 am and headed up the Col de Vence. The climb has been featured several times in the famous Paris-Nice cycling race as well as the Nice Ironman race. There appeared to be rain and thunderstorms scattered all around the area and the forecast was not good, but I decided to head out anyway and see what developed. The Col de Vence begins immediately upon leaving Vence, there’s no warm up. It’s about nine or ten kilometers to the summit and this was my first time climbing it. The first kilometer seemed to be about 8 to 9 percent grade and then things eased off a bit. It began to sprinkle about one kilometer into the climb and that soon turned into a steady, light rain. I kept going, passing a few riders on my way up. There were quite a few riders coming down the Col, they had obviously gotten an earlier start than I had. Most of the climb seemed to be about a 7 percent grade. I kept a nice steady pace, not too hard, and reached the summit in about 40 minutes. Towards the end of the climb I could see lightning and hear thunder all down along the coast to my left. The sky was almost black and the lightning was impressive. Luckily, all I had to endure was the steady, light rain, some rather strong winds and rapidly cooling temperatures. By the time I reached the summit I was soaked through and through and it was 45°. Not a great way to begin a fast descent. I had my light jacket with me and a pair of glove liners which I immediately put on. With those temperatures and as wet as I was, they weren’t a lot of help.

Since things looked so bad behind me I decided to go over the summit and down the other side rather than returning to Vence. The sky looked a little better in that direction. The first village on the north side is Coursegoules, about eight kilometers down from the top. It was tough, it was still raining and I was very wet and very cold. I pulled in Coursegoules, found a little market and bought some orange juice. I noticed a little bar that was open, so I went in there for some warmth and to escape the rain for a little while. My bike odometer said it was 47°. I bought a bottle of Badoit (French fizzy water) and rested up for a spell. I was chilled and shivering a little bit and all my clothes were soaking wet. After about 20 minutes I was feeling a little better and it seemed the rain had subsided so I headed down the road towards Bouyon, about 12 kilometers away. See the view back from where I came at the top of the Col and you’ll understand why I chose not to go back that way. Click on the image for a larger version.

Once again, it was all downhill from Coursegoules to Bouyon. I would have actually preferred to climb at this point as it would have kept me warmer. Connie and I stopped in Bouyon for lunch last year on a much different day, warm and sunny. I ducked into a small grocery store that was open and was greeted warmly by the man and woman running it. “C’est eté, oui?” I said (“It’s summer, right?”). The man laughed and replied, “Demain, demain.” (“Tomorrow, tomorrow.”) I asked if it had been raining all morning and they said yes. He pointed to the mountains in the distance and said there was lots of fresh snow, unusual for this time of year. This was the point at which I was hoping to head off towards a village named Les Ferres, where I haven’t yet been. But the sky looked quite dark in that direction, whereas here and on towards the route back to Vence things were looking much better. I decided I had better head back in that direction and save Les Ferres for a better day.

Next stop, Le Broc, again, all downhill. The sun actually started to come out, the temperatures were up in the upper 50s and the rain was almost gone. By the time I passed through Le Broc and then Carros Village everything was much better. It’s still mostly downhill from Carros Village to Vence and thing steadily improved for the rest of the ride. By the time I arrived back at my hotel the streets were almost dry, the sun was out and it was in the mid-60s. See the view on the left of Bouyon from the road to Le Broc. If you look closely you can see the fresh snow on the mountains in the distance. Click on the image for a larger version.

Overall, not the best day. The climb up the Col de Vence was nice, but the weather sucked. I really didn’t get to enjoy this ride as I would on a warm and sunny day. My plan is to make the same trip tomorrow. When I get to Bouyon I’ll head up to Les Ferres, then over to Conséqudes, Roquesteron and Gilette before returning to Le Broc, Carros Village and Vence. That will add a bunch of climbing to the route and take me to at least four new villages on my list of those I want to see. Hopefully, the weather will be better.

Today’s French patisserie is nougatine (Miel, Amandes) from La Tourrettoise in Vence. A tastey square piece of flakey crust with a layer of honey and several layers of almond slices. I’ve never been a big fan of honey, but this was good. Not overly sweet. The almonds provide a nice crunch with the flakey crust. Rating: 6 out of 10. Click image for larger version.

June 19, 2010: 70 miles, 4 hours 45 minutes ride time.

Great ride today! I slept in later than I usually do, but I got a good night’s sleep and I’m now on France time I think. I finished putting my bike together (really just needed to tighten everything up and tweak a few things), got organized and was on the road around 9:30. It’s mostly downhill from Vence to Nice, about seven miles to the coast (Cagnes-Sur-Mer) and then another three miles or so to the Nice airport. It was so wonderful to be riding in France again. I cruised along the Promenade des Anglais which runs for about five miles along the coast of Nice. Around the Nice port, up a short hill and before you knew it I was in Villefrance-sur-Mer the next town over. It’s just a mile or two of our Villefranche-sur-Mer that you turn up into the hills and head for Eze and a nice little climb it is. I’ve written about Eze (and La Turbie) before and it sure was nice to see it again. Then on to La Turbie, only a few kilometers away.

The weather was great, mostly sunny, warm but not hot. I was considering heading on up to Peille, but it looked like it might be raining up in the mountains that way, it was very dark and grey. I stopped and got an Orangina, called Carole and rested in a little park. A man and woman turned into the park off a steep side street, riding on hybrid bikes, clearly tired but in a good mood. I asked them where they had climbed up from and they said Monaco. It’s a nice climb (Les and I did it once years ago) and they were quite proud of themselves. The guy was German, living in Monaco and the woman was Italian, living in Beaulieu. We talked for a little while and then I was ready to head back out. By now the weather in the mountains looked better, so I decided to head on up to Peille. See the photo on the left of La Turbie as I headed up the road to Peille (click for larger version).

The road up to Peille is not that long, about nine kilometers. At about eight is the turn off for the Col de la Madone, famous as one of Lance Armstrong’s training rides. I’ve ridden up it three times from the other side, but never from this side, so I turned off and headed up. It’s not a long climb at that point, only about three miles and not real steep. During the ride up from La Turbie and on the Madone I kept seeing a lot of cyclists with little paper numbers on their handlebars. Clearly there was some kind of organized ride or race going on. I passed several riders on the climb, including two women. At the top I stopped to put on my light jacket before heading back down the way I came. It was significantly colder up here and there was even some fog. One of the women I had passed reachd the summit and I spoke with her. It turns out a club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin had a big organized ride today, 100 kilometers over a lot of the same climbs I was doing. She and her friend were participating. They gave me a copy of the route and I’ll plan on doing this ride one day, maybe next year. The descent down Madone was great. Years ago Les and I had done this same descent for the first time, coming in from the St. Agnes side, and the road was a mess. It’s been repaved since then and is in great shape. From the bottom of the climb it’s a short two kilometer ride over to Peille. A quick stop there and then off to Nice. All downhill at this point. See the photo on the left of Peille from the climb up the Col de la Madone (click for larger version).

I stopped in Old Town at Nice and had some lunch, a typical French pizza, at one of my favorite restaurants there. Then I took a quick trip over to La Roue Libre, the great little bike store we discovered years ago in Nice. Turns out the one thing I forgot this year was my ride drink. I’d left the bag of powder on the hutch after my last ride in Nashville on Wednesday and forgot to pack it. They didn’t have the brand I use (of course), but I bought a can of some French stuff, poured it all into a big plastic bag, tucked it into my jersey and headed back towards Vence. It’s all uphill now. The climb to Vence isn’t that steep, up until the last two or three kilometers where it does get a bit steep. It’s a nice little kick at the end of a long ride. I got back to the hotel very happy with my first ride of the trip.

Arrived in Nice around 1:00 in the afternoon about three hours later than when I was scheduled to arrive, so overall not so bad. I checked with baggage people there and they told me my bike and bag would be coming in that afternoon around 3:00 or 3:30. Great news, as the London folks had told me they wouldn’t arrive until the next day! I headed over to Terminal 2 to pick up my car at Europcar. There was a very long line, but fortunately it moved at a reasonable pace. I was a little concerned that my bike box wouldn’t fit in the car, but everything was great. I got a fantastic car, almost brand new. It is a Renault Megane, a four dour hatchback and very modern. No key, just a credit card sized piece of plastic that you slide into the dashboard and a button that you push to start the engine. I got it at a great price, just $200 USD a week, with unlimited mileage. Plenty of room in the back for my bike box once I put the two back seats down.

I headed off for Vence. I’ve ridden there several times on my bike, so I know the route. It’s only about ten miles from the Nice airport to Vence, so I was there in twenty minutes or so. However, I could not, for the life or me, find my hotel, La Closerie des Genets. I searched and searched, going back and forth down the street I thought it should be on. Finally, I decided to park in a parking garage and ask someone for help. But as I was walking up the street I found the hotel, tucked down a side street. The door was locked and no one answered. I was finally able to rouse the owner after some more knocking and he checked me in.

La Closerie des Genets is a fine little hotel if you are looking for something inexpensive and don’t require much. My room is very small, there’s not much in the way of drawers and storage areas. No desk. No phone. But, it’s clean, quite and cheap. I’m only paying 40 Euros per night, which is very, very good. So, I can live with the lack of extras as I’m trying not to spend too much money on this trip. There are certainly better hotels in Vence, but even the next step up is about twice the price.

I got settled in, upacked most of the carry on stuff I had with me and gave the British Airways lost luggage number a call. They said that, yes indeed, my luggage and bike had arrived at the Nice airport. I asked if they were going to deliver it to me that evening. Well, they couldn’t really say. I asked if someone could call me and let me know. If they were not going to then I’d come and get it myself. They said they would. About three hours later, no word. I called again. Same runaround. They weren’t sure when it would be delivered, but they’d have someone call me and let me know if they were not going to deliver today. An hour later I realized no one was going to call me and there was no telling when they’d get around to delivering my stuff. It was almost 7:00PM by now, so I hopped in my car and headed for the airport. Picked up my bike and bag and headed back to Vence, getting very tired now, as I’d only had about 2 hours sleep in the last 24 hours.But, I was very happy to have my bike and luggage.

Back at the hotel I put my bike together (for the most part), gave Carole a call and went to sleep.