DAY 9 - Pont de Rhodes to Salviac

Pont de Rhodes to Saliva

65 miles, 1126 m of climb, average 13 mph, 3435 kcal used

Weather was mixed cloud and sun, once early morning rain had cleared. Warming up!

We were a bit late up, possibly due to the thick curtains in the rooms. We ended up leaving not far off 10 am just as a rain shower had finished its work, so it was on wet roads that we left the hotel, immediately tackling a 100 m climb to our highest point of the day. Then it was a bit of up and down before coming into the first major settlement of the day, Sousceyrac, where we hoped to pick up the food for the day. But guess what, Monday is local day for the boulangerie and patisserie to be shut! Our tour seems to be following the shut day around!

This picture represents all of the closed boulangeries and
patisseries that we came across this morning. 

So we headed on and before long were on an exciting descent through forests, with dappled sunlight on patchy damp roads. John and Rowan sped off whilst Roy and I were more circumspect. We all arrived safely at the town of St. Cere, yet another town we have seen overlooked by a 'proper' castle. After a brief hunt, we found a small supermarket open and filled our bags with goodies for the day.

Our route was briefly busy, along the side of the river Bave. We started to see limestone cliffs to the south, and sure enough we were climbing up towards a picturesque village perched at the top of one - Loubressac. The climb was steady and we were rewarded with great views of Chateau de Castelnau on the way up. The village itself was very beautiful for itself as well as its situation, something that was notable for many of the villages in the area. 

The immaculate small village of Loubressac, perched on
top of our second main climb of the day,
now in limestone country

The village itself

As we left the village we came across a memorial that had been erected to commemorate the support of the resistance by US forces during the Second World War. We carried on across the countryside, passing through small villages, eventually stopping for lunch just short of Rocamadour. We noted that it was a very touristy area, one of the attractions being the chevre cheese, as well as foie gras (the goose torturers favourite pate). We lunched contentedly at a picnic site with a rather nicely done carving that had used an in situ tree - without any foie gras.

The WW2 resistance memorial above the village

Nice lunch spot just before Rocamadour.

Wood sculpture at lunch spot. 
Wonder why he's so worried?

Moving on, we were startled to come to the edge of Rocamadour to find it full of tourists and, shockingly, open shops! We were bemused until we saw the spectacular view of the old town built up the side of the deep and steep sided limestone Gorge. After a photo stop, our route then took us along and gradually down into the Gorge, characterised by a bright green bottom and rocky, sparsely vegetated sides. Having reached the base and crossed the river, we then, surprise, surprise, had to climb out the other side. Tired legs needed a rest at the top, and we stopped in the pristine village of Cales at an open cafe (our luck has finally changed!) for hot chocolate, coffee and water refills. 

Spectacular Rocamadour

The Rocamadour gorge which we cycled down into
and then back out of.

Hot chocolate & coffee stop in manicured Cales - note bikes in neat formation

Yet another descent put us next to the A20 autoroute, which we all felt was an ugly scar in the landscape, then our last big climb of the day after going under it was up to Payrac. Mostly downhill after a further climb beyond the village, we made good time into the medieval town of Gourdon, where we stocked up with food for the evening. More downhill and along the river valley to our rest place for the night, the camping municipal at Salviac. A very laissais faire proprietor invited us to find a spot and come back to pay later. Our site is very pleasant, with mint mixed in with the grass to give our every footfall a pleasant perfume. 

Our rather nice camp site at Salviac - the grass contains mint so you
 get a nice aroma as you walk around

Best bits

Rowan - Rocamadour

Roy - the Rocamadour Gorge

John - arriving in Gourdon to find the supermarket open 

Jeremy - arriving at the campsite, not just 'cos it was the end of the day, but because it was such a nice place.

Random thought of the day

Regular readers of the blog may have noticed that this feature has been missing for a while. That's not because we don't have them, it's more because at this stage of the ride, we can't remember them at the end of the day!