Day 33 - Pont in Royans France - 77 kms All Vecored out !

The start of the day was promising the sun was out, our gear was mainly dry and Mrs Ross had responded indicating that Ross would undergo remedial training in how to boil an egg as soon as he gets home - PS he does apparently know how to boil water !

H had put in a sterling overnight effort to dry our wet gear but his idea to tape the blow dryers switch on and simply leave it inside the shoe lacked a little foresight - thankfully instead of burning the hotel down the blow dryer just blew up !

I knew the days riding was going to be tough when we asked for directions off the hotels waiter in the morning. His reply in a Gerard Depedieu nasal inflection, of `Sacre Blue`suggested that our plans to do a 75 km circuitous ride to Pont en Royans by way of 4 cols, when in fact the town was only 20 kms down the road was a bit of Anzac madness !

I was hoping for an out but Ross Hill obviously related to Sir Edmund, equipped with ice pick , rope ladders & pitons was determined to take the more difficult way - bugger!

Up until this point the group had got along famously - Ross wants to get up and get going at 4.00a.m. and the Aussies like to lie in till 12. Ross likes to eat every 20 minutes when cycling and Kev just likes eating (usually everything !) - we have much in common !

In the beaut sunshine we tackled our first Col a 4 km climb to 1100 metres at roughly 5-6% was a good warm up.

This took us to the outskirts of Vassieux en Vecors and a memorial to 700 combatants and villagers slaughtered by the Germans when gliders landed troops surrounding the village supporting the French resistance - the graves of 10 members of one family with children 2,4 & 7 was particularly moving.

A steep 3 kms took us to Col no 2 - Col de la Chaux overlooking Vassieux and the fabulous surrounding snow capped Mtns

A beautiful descent on freshly laid bitumen took us to a bridge where we elected to have lunch and visit the Grotte due Broubon a massive cave system that we could walk into.

Ross taking on the role of forward scout left us for our destination (apologies Mrs Ross - hence few photos of him !)

Col 3 (unnamed) was a 4 km forest road climb that included a descent where we raced past the invisible Col sign !

Col 4 to Col de la Bataille at 1313 meters was absolutely stunning with amazing panoramas everywhere - with no safety barriers this was not a good time to lose focus !

An incredible series of descents followed totalling 30kms and had what is left of my brakes burning - on the valley floor at last the magnitude of the Vecor massif was evident standing out like a land that time had forgotten !

It was at the bottom of our descent that i caught H a beauty... When stopped he asked me to check his neck as he could feel something on it - in my best look of shock and Horror I said slowly `My god Henley ! ...after he showed concern i completed my statement with ..` that's the ugliest neck I've ever seen ! . H`s reply not to be scripted here, indicates that his dental condition is now clearly fixed !

The last few Kms were particularly tough - it was 27c and damned hot - my struggle in the heat was at least partly caused by a slow leak puncture noticed by Ross some 30 kms prior and now confirmed by H !

Ross had done another fine job in securing accommodation and even in reconnoitering the restaurants in town - the one we went to not only having great local produce but also fantastic views of the Vecors Massif up the Valley

What a great few days we've had in the Vectors - stunning scenery and riding

Onward we move to the Camino !