Winter ride to see snowy mountains
My route was to ride, battling against the wind, up the Valley of the Rhône and then across the Vaucluse in the foothills of Mt. Ventoux (1911 m.). Ventoux remains cloudy but there is actual snow covering the bright white karst of the rocky upper slopes. Frost at the side of the road to Sault around the Col des Abeilles (995 m.), even today there is a cyclist thick in black Lycra, battling the gradient and the bitter wind.
Clear blue dawn first thing in Marseille but a ferocious freezing Mistral. Worth the chill for the thrill of seeing snowy mountains, even far away. My route was to ride, battling against the wind, up the Valley of the Rhône and then across the Vaucluse in the foothills of Mt. Ventoux (1911 m.). Ventoux remains cloudy but there is actual snow covering the bright white karst of the rocky upper slopes. Frost at the side of the road to Sault around the Col des Abeilles (995 m.), even today there is a cyclist thick in black Lycra, battling the gradient and the bitter wind.
Warming up, down in Sault (740 m.) in the only bar open, it’s still only 3°C. The clouds to the north looking increasingly threatening so I turn to the south. Back on the road, over the Plateau d’Albion (850 m.) there is hard ice in puddles at the side of the road and the leaves are still on the trees but now brown and freeze-dried. Time to ride with caution.
I pass the military airfield and extensive satellite dish farm at St. Christol, then am rewarded with fine views over the lavender fields of the white peaks of the Alps of Haut Provence above Allos, Pra Loup and beyond. I return via Apt in the Lubéron and the Coombe de Lourmarin through to the Valley of the Durance.