The last three weeks didn’t exactly go according to plan for us. We figured we’d be in Spain by now but this trip had different plans for us. We’re currently in the Cévennes region, a bit South of Alès!
It was hard leaving Camping Robert and its private beach at Lake Paladru, but we did and continued riding west. The Isère region was full of excellent riding, full of little pilgrimage and GR trails. We quickly reached Valence - gateway to the Ardèche region - where we had our first warmshowers host! Warmshowers is a community of cyclists that offer each other just that: a warm shower and a bed or place to camp. Perfect for bigger cities like Valence that don’t have any campsites. It’s also free! Funnily enough, our host wasn’t home so we didn’t get the full-on social experience, but at least we had a place to pitch our tent. After a mix-up with the address, we finally arrived at the right house, rinsed off with a very cold garden hose shower, and enjoyed the garden all to ourselves — tucked away from the buzz of the city.
It was around this time that I started having painful saddle sores. Suddenly I couldn’t properly sit on my bike anymore without pain. Unfortunately, the only way to heal saddle sores is time off the bike. But we couldn’t exactly stay in that host’s garden either. Unsure of what to do, we decided to bike to the next campsite, a long 20km away. Fortunately, it was a flat and easy ride next to the Rhône river. We ended up at a municipal campsite in Charmes-du-Rhones, a quaint little town in the Ardèche.
Having to stop moving was hard. Until then we had always pushed on with purpose, and now we had to pause because of something outside of our control. We really needed to change our mindset, and try to relax. That was surprisingly hard for us — but in the end, it gave us the chance to experience the trip differently. The campsite of Charmes sat right by the Rhône River and a busy cycling path, so we’d meet plenty of fellow cyclists and share stories. The local guingette was a lively place, crowded all day with passing travellers and where oftentimes people from the village would come over for karaoke and cabaret nights. Unfortunately sometimes until very late! We’d lie awake in the tent listening to very poor french singing. Don’t even get me started on the comedy nights. We spent our days hiking the surrounding mountains, jumping in the river, reading, drawing and playing music. And we’d cook lavish dinners with french, local wine in the evenings. Babette also got sick for a week - I guess our bodies were catching up with us.
Equipped with a new saddle and bibs, things have definitely been better since our rest. We’ve been moving south again, but with more rest days and shorter stages for now. The slower pace opened up new joys - wandering through villages along the way and spending more time in one place rather than just passing through them. We spent some days near Ruoms, swimming in the Ardèche river and exploring the Labeaume canyon. It’s September now and the campsites are much quieter and also cheaper. We typically have the pool all to ourselves! The weather here is also a lot less hot now than in August.
The riding has been surprisingly smooth lately. There’s not that many good off-road trails in these parts. We don’t mind and we were happy for some easier riding for a change. The scenery has been pretty spectacular and it’s been interesting to see it change to a more southernly one. There are plenty of vineyards, olive trees, and the plants definitely have gotten more spiky. There are wild fig trees everywhere that don’t have that many figs left when Babette passes them by. Seriously, she can’t stop plundering them once she has started. The fauna has changed too. We spotted the European bee-eater - with its striking plumage with green, blue and yellow- through our binoculars. We also saw pairs of beaver rats in the tributaries of the Rhône. Some of them were nursing adorable little pups. Migration has started and we’ve seen several flocks of storks heading in the same direction as we are.
These last couple of weeks definitely took us off our planned rhythm, but they also gave us time to slow down, discover new places, and meet people we wouldn’t have otherwise. And hey, when does an adventure ever go according to plan? We’re still pedaling, and still on our way south.
