This Ride Will Make You Smile

Something was going on with my lips as I climbed up and over the first ridge and descended down the Col de Beaufer. Hang on let me stop and check, and … it seems my lips are stretched out and turned upwards; I’m smiling. Imagine that!

Today’s ride was amazing, one of the best rides I’ve ever done in France. It had a little bit of everything, including a medieval village complete with a Romanesque church (Brancion); the village of Chapaize with yet another Romanesque church almost 1,000 years old (this country is filled with them); and then the huge chateau in Cormatin. And, this was just the first half of the ride. The second half of the loop was the climbing half and included a 2-mile climb up the Col des Chevres that had a section with an 18-percent gradient according to my cols app. 18 percent!

The entire ride, 36.65 miles and 2,709 feet of climbing, was filled with panoramic views that are hard to fully capture on my iPhone. There are no mountains here, just a series of ridges that extend up to about 400 to 500 meters, and to get anywhere worth getting to you have to climb a few ridges. They don’t seem that high from afar, but once you begin climbing, they’re very mountain-like in terms of steepness, but shorter. Age and injuries just might be catching up to me, but so far, I’m managing. The key is the after-ride recovery nap. And a lot of water (Volvic is my eau de choice).

In earlier posts I wrote about how riding along the Voie des Vignes (the route of wine) from Beaune and the path along the Saone River (which I did yesterday from Tournus, where I’m now staying) were pleasant rides. Today’s word is … joyous. That word kept going through my mind today. This ride filled me with joy and I kept smiling as one fantastic panoramic view after another presented itself. It’s kind of my version of meditation and helps me relax, quiet down my brain, be more patient and live in the moment (something Susan has helped me with). Pateince (which I struggle with) is the key to climbing and I was pretty darn patient on today’s climbs.

Enough with the words, here are some photos from today …