May 21 - to Pont du Gard, west of Avignon

I headed out today to the W of Avignon, but the start of the ride was the same since there seems to be only one bike-friendly way to get in or out of town. Once I got off the river, the ride seemed to leave the floodplain of the Rhone more quickly. Here and there are these small hills.

Just around the corner was this 12th century church -- this is approaching Theziers from Aramon on the D19.

Theziers was kind of interesting -- it is an old walled medieval town but it doesn't seem to have been restored / affected much by tourism. I spiraled up the road to the center of town next to an old church. Here's a view downhill.


And one looking up to the church tower.


Here's a shot looking back at the church over the town, with some newer houses outside the city walls in the foreground.


This is the famous Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard--there weren't a lot of tourists right now but I can imagine this must be a mess in the summer. There are visitors' centers with tons of bus parking on either side of the bridge. Add that to 100+ F temperatures etc.


In the old town of Castillon du Gard. There was a little flea market going on here out in the streets, & somewhere there is a bicycle museum but I couldn't find it & decided to head on.


A view from Castillon of the landscape, and the road I'd be riding on a few minutes later.


Pont du Gard, viewed from the same spot.


Another view of the landscape--mixtures of vineyards & olive trees.


Looking back up to the spot (on the far R of the hill) where the previous pictures were taken.


I headed south from Castillon du Gard towards Cabrieres. Just after Collias there was another bridge over the Gard, from which I took this picture of the cliffs--there was a canoe rental place right across, and a lot of people swimming further downstream. It was a really hot day--staying moving on the back, especially given how flat it was, kept me cool but I was a little worried about sunburn and dehydration.


A field of poppies south of Cabrieres.


There was a long stretch here where I didn't take pictures but which was actually one of the most interesting parts of the ride. The ride climbed up the gorge of a S-N flowing stream, for maybe half an hour, not climbing much (maybe 250m elevation altogether) but steadily, first through rocky scrub then a dry forest. All the way along the sides of the (deserted) road there were glimpses of trails and occasional trailheads with signs. It could be a really good place for a mt. bike (aka a VTT).

These two signs were from the Redessant Cave Cooperative i.e. winemaking cooperative. There were lots of wineries all along here but they all seemed to be closed--Sunday afternoon before the tourist high season. (blogger isn't formatting this quite right...)

Rather than going straight into Avignon, I went passed the bridge a bit into Villeneuve. There's a tower here that used to be the west side of the old Pont d'Avignon before it got taken out by floods in the 17th C.

A view down the stairs...these steep, winding stone stairs will look familiar to anyone who has travelled in Europe...but they are even less pleasant to negotiate with cleated cycling shoes. I sounded like a horse...click...click...click....


But there were great views at the top -- this is to the north, the Chartreuse fort / monestary, now a school / writing center for playwrights.


To the northeast...Mont Ventoux in the distance. You can see why recreational cyclists generally ride up the east side.


And to the east...the Palace of the Popes and Avignon. There were a couple of American ladies here who offered to take my picture after I took theirs for them.

To the south, the Rhone. The first bridge on the R. is the main cycling route out of Avignon.


Back across the Rhone. The Palace of the Popes is built on this huge chunk of rock, which was previously at the center of a Roman fortification and before that an Iron Age settlement.


The Pont d'Avignon.


The ride ended just after this, with 119km (74 miles) on the odometer. To give an idea of how much flatter the cycling is, my max HR for this ride was 166 BPM, which I was probably only at for a few short climbs, whereas I was probably around there most of the hour plus up Alpe d'Huez, with stretches well over 170 & up to around 182 or so.