Ride inland and away from the coastal warmth to Manosque in the Alpes de Haut-Provence. Mild enough in the January afternoon sunshine with the snow on the Alps beyond, though there had been frost overnight in the Durance valley.
Not the usual itinerary, to avoid the traffic diverting to avoid the various protest road blocks. That was both an interesting ride route and with fantastic views. Mostly clear roads but then suddenly finding the lorries and the cars diverted off the autoroute by the farmers’ blockades.
Arranged the service and new tyres for a bit later in the year at the bike garage who look after my RR.
Back to Marseille by another innovative and scenic route, the road over Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Val de Vauvenargues. Nonetheless fantastically awful traffic congestion from Aix-en-Provence onwards and to another level still, back in Marseille. A lot of white-lining and back streets.