Saturday, August 25, 2012

Landes, Gironde/Bordeaux, and Dordogne/Périgueux

Summary of 4 days - Mont-de-Marsan to Perigueux:
  • Hot beyond toleration. It is over 40c or 105f during a few of these days. This is heat that makes you mad. It is dangerous.
  • You have to be disciplined with your water intake. You need to drink 6-8 ltrs per day. And... you have to do it in small equal amounts throughout the day. That is .75 ltr per hour of effort . The rest comes before and after riding. It is so hot... you will not pee while riding despite essentially consuming a fountain's flow of water.
  • Landes (Aug 20th) is a bizarre part of France. Undifferentiated, flat/crowned, unpopulated, trees with ferns growing below them, bugs to keep you moving along these sometimes paved logging roads... Not where you want to have a problem. It is a hard 50 mile crossing. You have to do it in a day.
  • Once across Landes, this becomes the rural south-west France you might expect. Farmland with an increasing number of vineyards and Chateaux as you move north.
  • The land is undulating at reasonable pitches. Perfect for bike touring.

Facts:
Aug 23th (rest day 24, 25th rain) - GPS - Mussidan to Perigueux
Distance: 26.09 mi
Time: 2:56:39/ Moving Time: 2:19:55
Avg Speed: 8.9 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 11.2 mph / Max Speed: 33.8 mph
Elevation Gain: 906 ft
Elevation Loss: 741 ft
Min Elevation: 196 ft
Max Elevation: 383 ft
Weather - 90’s nice
Climbs - flat
Difficulty - 0
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Mercure 90 euros. Nice luxury hotel next to the old town. Highly Recommended
Comments:
A. This was meant to be a rest day. Its an easy flat course.
B. The first interesting city for awhile. I badly need a break, this is perfect. Rain kept me here an extra day.
C. This well worth a visit for the food, church (which looks like st mark's in venice without the gold roof), and old town’s night/cafe life. One of those places you never heard of as an American. You enjoy it more than expected.

Facts:
Distance: 37.26 mi
Time: 5:06:36/ Moving Time: 3:46:13
Avg Speed: 7.3 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 9.9 mph / Max Speed: 38.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 2,415 ft
Elevation Loss: 2,448 ft
Min Elevation: 99 ft
Max Elevation: 551 ft
Weather - 98 F. Still hot but not like the last few days
Climbs - flat
Difficulty - 5 heat, distance, and up/down
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Hotel Du Midi 50 euros. No air but a swimming pool. Old style. Super clean.
Comments:
A. As biking goes, this is highly recommended. Small roads with the perfect up and down. There were a couple of dirt road adventures, including one through a vineyard and clump of houses that had me thinking... I am not allowed this way. Someone is going to come out and shoot me with salt rock.
B. At one point, 2 older women passed me on a hill. They were so happy. I let them have it... or that is the story I am sticking with. They should have left a number, so I could visit my manhood once in awhile.
C. This leg can be divided by Bergerac. Before it is isolated farms without many towns. After Bergerac, there are increasing vineyards, and while still small roads/rural there are more towns. The feel is different. You also start seeing actively used Chateaux.

Facts:
Distance: 33.64 mi
Time: 4.36/ Moving Time: 2.53
Avg Speed: 7.3 mph / Avg Moving Speed:11.6 mph / Max Speed: 35.2 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,565 ft
Elevation Loss: 1,611 ft
Min Elevation: 117 ft
Max Elevation: 576 ft
Weather - 40++c/ 100++ F. Blazing hot again
Climbs - flat
Difficulty - 4 heat
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Update later (there was only one choice. the owner was nice but strangely without a wife. that seemed odd. and it seemed odd that I would notice.)

Comments:
A. The heat will make you mad.
B. There was a climb at the start. With Landes yesterday, it was a tough start. The top third was being tarred. That was not a pleasant section. After that, it is good riding. The high way can sometimes be dangerous because fast moving cars can see you all the time, but this is a good biking section.
C. Few towns in a land offering little support. I planned to go further, but ran out of water. This is truly rural.

Facts:
Distance: 49.97 mi
Time: 5:15:59/ Moving Time: 4:08:05
Avg Speed: 9.5 mph / Avg Moving Speed:12.1 mph / Max Speed: 31.5 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,355 ft
Elevation Loss: 1,253 ft
Min Elevation: 130 ft
Max Elevation: 505 ft
Weather - 40++c/ 100++ F. Blazing hot
Climbs - flat
Difficulty - 7 this is a top tier difficult day.
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Update later
Comments:
A. Landes is a bizarre part of France.
B. It was dangerously hot!
C. The first 25 km are along an unshouldered straight fast industrial highway. Very dangerous and you will look for a way off. Finally after you leave that road, the lack of support and isolation are stressful.
D. Undifferentiated, flat/crowned, unpopulated, trees with ferns growing below them, bugs to keep you moving along these sometimes paved logging roads... Not where you want to have a problem. It is a hard 50 mile crossing. You have to do it in a day..
E. At one point I did not want to follow the gps down a dirt road and ended up taking a longer, more isolated, and dangerous one from Saint Gor back D???.
F. This was one of the hardest days. It looks flat on the map, but really it is crowned - Elevation Gain: 1,355 ft. You go slowly up and then slowly down. The bugs make it so you can not easily take a break and keep you moving above 20km... when you can.
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Friday, August 24, 2012

Pyrenees - Flogged.

Summary of 5 days - Pamplona to Mont-de-Marsan:
  • Over the Pyrenees crossing into France. How are is it? 
  • This is highly variable terrain, ranging from rolling hills to mountain peak. When the pitch is reasonable, its a good challenge. Other times it is a walk or a painful slog up the hill.
  • The weather is just as variable. It rained. It was wildly hot. It was warm and perfect.
  • This is my new favorite part of France. Like Spain’s Galicia region, beautiful beyond description. For biking, once you get off the wildly pitching sections; it is perfect in roads and countryside.

Facts:
Distance: 13.92 mi
Time: 1:10:55/ Moving Time: 1:10:55
Avg Speed: ?? mph / Avg Moving Speed: 11.8 mph / Max Speed: 33.4 mph
Elevation Gain: 525 ft
Elevation Loss: 636 ft
Min Elevation: 98 ft
Max Elevation: 312 ft
Weather - very hot with late rain
Climbs - flat
Difficulty - 0 rest day.
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - unhappy couple. Nice view. Update later
Comments:
A. Dire town on the edge of Landes... a flat, low, and lightly populated state that must be crossed in one day. Today sets up a hard crossing tomorrow.
B. This used to the be the seat of the Bishop.

Facts:
Distance: 30.31 + 3.76= 34.17 mi to the farmhouse
Time: 3:54:43/ Moving Time: 3:05:12
Avg Speed: 7.7 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 9.8 mph / Max Speed: 34.8 mph
Elevation Gain: 2080 ft
Elevation Loss: 1909 ft
Min Elevation: 111 ft
Max Elevation: 510 ft
Weather - Again Very Hot low
Climbs - Up and Down all day.
Difficulty - 5 climbs, distance over, and 100++ heat. One of three most difficult days.
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Outstanding BandB in the countryside. Update latter. Nice family
Comments:
A. This is my new favorite part of France continues
B. No where to stay in town. Ended up getting a room in a BnB 4mi outside of town. Corn field was all you could see.
C. The cab back to town and the dinner worked out while... if a little expensive.

Facts:
Distance: 35.73 mi
Time: 5:30:07/ Moving Time: 2:17
Avg Speed: 6.5 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 9.6 mph / Max Speed: 38 mph
Elevation Gain: 2598 ft
Elevation Loss: 2966 ft
Min Elevation: 111 ft
Max Elevation: 1054 ft
Weather - Very Hot low
Climbs - !!!
Difficulty - 7 climbs, distance, and 100++ heat. One of three most difficult days.
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Outstanding BandB in the countryside. Update latter
Comments:
A. This is my new favorite part of France.
B. Tiny roads you could never find without the gps and a detailed map. If you look closely at the linked map you will not see towns. Just clusters of buildings with a name.
C. There were two difficult long climbs, but the land pitches sharply in small doses all the way. You do not climb a mountain and still get 2500 ft of vertical.
D. There was a herd of large horned cows laying in the road at the top on the one named Col. That was tricky.
F. When I got to the town I was planning on staying in, there were no rooms for 17km and additional climbs... in the blazing heat. I was shaking by the time I got off.

Facts:
Distance: 16.57 mi
Time: 4:00/ Moving Time: 2:17
Avg Speed: 4.1 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 7.3 mph / Max Speed: 33.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 2054 ft
Elevation Loss: 4547 ft
Min Elevation: wrong ft
Max Elevation: 4673 ft
Weather - Cool over the mountain. Very Hot low
Climbs - !!!
Difficulty - 7
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - everything is better in france. update latter
Comments:
A. There is a lot of walking involved. The road goes from good hard climb... to bad road... to unreasonable steepness and worst road... to mountain trail... to grass. Then. the process repeats on the way down.
B. Going down is extraordinarily steep. You have to grip the breaks hard all the way down as the rims overheat. I had to replace the brake pads the next day. That has never happened before.
C. You can see the high Pyrenees towards the south. Those are sharp peaks.  The altitude is fairly low but this is wild country... dangerous land.

Facts:
Distance: 40.00 mi
Time: 4:32:15/ Moving Time: 3:05:56
Avg Speed: 8.8 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 9.0 mph / Max Speed: 32.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,127 ft
Elevation Loss: 1,553 ft
Min Elevation: 1,341 ft
Max Elevation: 3,102 ft
Weather - 60 to 78 f. RAIN
Climbs - Up all day. With two hard ones
Difficulty - 3
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Not good but the last bed;
Comments:
A. Fill in later. It rained.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Slowly Off the High Plateau - Into the Pyrenees

Summary of 4 days - Burgos to Pamplona:
  • 1st day was 40c. That´s 104 F. This was the second screaming hot day for this trip. The other was the day I arrived in Santiago at 102.2 F.
  • I am getting stronger. At this point, I can ride up long climbs as long as the gradient is reasonable. The distances are making me tired, but I recover quicker. It is plenty hard, but not a daily death match to prove I can take it. There are daily encounters with the ¨10 mile climb¨¨ in this section.
  • After Santo Domingo, land becomes increasingly undulating and the towns begin to resemble a lesser version of tuscan hill towns. Less and less of the desolate isolation feeling of Leon´s high plateau. Until the peak at Villamayor De Monjardin then, you are into the Pyrenees.
  • Being festival season, I have gotten to see the town´s Saint parading through the streets on the shoulders of the local strong young men.
  • The 13th was a top-tier effort for this trip so far.

Facts:
Aug 13th (Mon)/ 14th (Tues rest day)-  GPS - Estella to Pamplona   
Distance: 35.71 mi
Time: 6:32:25/ Moving Time: 4:00:50
Avg Speed: 5.5 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 8.9 mph / Max Speed: gps-error mph
Elevation Gain: 3,048 ft
Elevation Loss: 2,917 ft
Min Elevation: 1,172 ft
Max Elevation: 2,554 ft
Weather - 33 c / 80´s f.
Climbs - Yes. Mile 17-25 is a big one.
Difficulty - 6 Climbing and time out.
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Hotel Yoldi 60 euros. 3 stars. Outstanding.
Comments:
A. Very hard day. Climbs, stayed out too long, and got lost more than once. Also, had to stop and help other lost Pilgrims a lot.
B. I expected an fairly easy day. The map incorrectly indicated a flat 20 km to Pûcate la Reina ( a beautiful town not to be missed). It was some fairly long climbing and downhills until 14th mile.
C. After Pûcate la Reina, there is a legitimate mountain climb between miles 17 and 25. It is a good road at about the max. gradient you climb on a bike (12% per map). I did not have to walk any of it, but it took it out of me.
D. I did the additional 6km from Puerto Del Peron to Alto Del Del Peron... just to say I did the full measure.
F. Gost lost and fairly lucky on the way down from the mountain. There is a road crossing A-12 not shown on the map/gps that looks just like the one you want further down the hill. It was only a lucky guess that took on the correct bumpy dirt path, through a river´s ravine, and into hilly farms. After enduring more dirt farm roads for awhile, the Camino crossed... never so happy to see the Camino.
G. Tues - Day off as I could not get up in the morning.

Facts:
Aug 12th (Sun)-  GPS - Viana to Estella / Lizarra   
Distance: 25.89 mi
Time: 3:48:10 / Moving Time: 2:47:01
Avg Speed: 6.8 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 9.3 mph / Max Speed: 35.8 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,818 ft
Elevation Loss: 2,005 ft
Min Elevation: 1,173 ft
Max Elevation: 1,796 ft
Weather - 33 c / 80´s f.
Climbs - Yes. nothing too hard.
Difficulty - 4, heat
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - ???? 50 euros with breakfast. 3 stars. Nice It's this over sleep on a floor.
Comments:
A. Short day. I got a late start and was never into the ride. Tired.
B. Estella is a formerly pretty town, turned ugly by industrial block housing. Not a recommended stop. Go one town further.

Facts:
Aug 11th (Sat)-  GPS - Santo Domingo to Viana   
Distance: 38.93 mi
Time: 4:40:42/ Moving Time: 3:24:52
Avg Speed: 8.3 mph / Avg Moving Speed: 11.4 mph / Max Speed: 36 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,801  ft
Elevation Loss: 2,375  ft
Min Elevation: 1,248 ft
Max Elevation: 2,218 ft
Weather - HOT  37 c / 98.6 F
Climbs - Yes. nothing too hard.
Difficulty - 4, heat
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Hotel - Palaciode de Pujadas 50 euros with breakfast. 3 stars. Nice. It's this over sleep on a floor.
Comments:
A.  Hot. Too hot. Not as blazing as yesterday, but you could get in trouble here.
B.  The heated metallic sky hangs over all day.  
C.  The terrain is getting better. It´s green on the hills and desolate in the valleys.
D.  Viana is a pretty hill town. Middle-Ages. It was not any fun climbing up into it after a long day on the bike.

Facts:
Distance: 42.69 mi
Time: 4:02:38 / Moving Time: 3:15:38
Avg Speed: 10.6 mph  / Avg Moving Speed: 13.1 mph / Max Speed: 40.5 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,637 ft
Elevation Loss: 961 ft
Min Elevation: 2,560 ft
Max Elevation: 2,326 ft
Weather - Wildly HOT 40c / 104F
Climbs - One 20 miles.
Difficulty - 5, heat
Scale:
0 = 25 miles around San Francisco with the marin headlands climb.
10 = Next to the last day of a hell week in the military with a few hours of sleep.

Comments:
A.  Hot. Too hot. You have to be careful. I drank 6 ltr. of water and had to stop a couple of times to get the body temperature down. When the water bottles are hot, you have to pay attention.
B.  Oppressive hazy heated sky the whole way along n120.  Which is a highway with fast moving large industrial vehicles.
C. Not a pleasant day. You saw suffering pilgrims hunched over doing the...next foot... then the next foot.. all day.
D. One hill goes slowly up for 10 miles, then up in earnest for the next 10. After 20 miles up in the heat, it mercifully goes down the the next 20.

Hotel - Parador Santo Domingo Bernardo de Fresneda 90 euros with breakfast. 3 stars. Nice. 16th c. Cathedral turned hotel. No where cheap to stay in this town with air conditioning.
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