After yesterday's very pleasant and successful non-battery ride, this morning's plan was a ride of similar length, but with an extra bit of hillage to see how legs & heart would react. So I headed south east on the RD93, took the Laval d'Aix turning, the minor road back to Moilères-Glandaz, and then the gentle hill up to Salières, before the return via the back road to Die. Very slow, but very lovely.
And the battery recharging was edible.
It was a beautifully cool morning this morning, the light was magnificent, and I was feeling good enough to see how my body would react to using the non-battery super-light Colnago road bike for a very short ride just down to the other side of Die and back. As much as the Moustache has been brilliant at taking the strain during my rehabilitation, it's a bit like driving a milk float instead of a racing car (I imagine... Ive never driven either) – it does the job very well, but it's about a third of my weight, compared with the Colnago being about a tenth, so the handling is decidedly 'heavy', even with the battery assistance.
Anyway, all was lovely this morning, and I couldn't stop grinning, being reminded of the sheer fun of road bikes in such beautiful scenery. And even going just 10 miles, there was no shortage of wonderful photos to take!
I didn't want to go far yesterday, as a friend was coming to guide me on pruning my greengage and cherry trees following a balcony lunch... a very interesting masterclass: it seems my efforts hadn't previously been too terrible, but I needed to be more radical in some ways (to keep the shape and stop crossing branches) and gentler in others (clipping shoots by a third to encourage fruiting shoots below the cut). I also learn not to leave stubs that are prone to die-back and this the ingress of fungus.
Anyway, prior to all that, I went to Aix-en-Diois (the 'Aix' being pronounced like 'Ex') and Laval d'Aix, the latter being exceedingly pretty!
Yesterday's haze was most extraordinary, with nearby big mountains disappearing into a haze, not of humidity, but Saharan dust – no-one around here has ever seen anything quite so extraordinary.
Anyway, after a very sticky night, with heat trapped in by the miasma and windows firmly closed to keep the heat out, today's been better, even if the forecast rain stayed almost completely away from the Diois... there was plenty elsewhere, and tomorrow promises to be better!
Anyway, I popped down to Die the scenic way via Chamaloc before a bit of light DIY and gardening (mowing the lawn and digging a hole for an apple tree to be planted at Christmas).
As it looks like it could be a stay-at-home rainy day tomorrow (no complaints – the rivers still need a lot more rain, as the storms so far have, thankfully, soaked into the parched earth), I decided to go a little further today: the 30-mile round trip to Luc-en-Diois, via Pont de Quart, St Roman, Menglon and Luzerand to Luc, and then the D93 via Montlaur and Recoubeau for the return (with a stonking tailwind today!).
Those who know all these places will realise I forgot to take a photo in Recoubeau today. Sorry!
By the way, sorry too if sometimes Blogger decides to display the photos in reverse order... it seems to have a mind of its own, but today it's got it right!
