Day 25 – Blowing up a whippet’s ears

Up at 08:00 ready for the arrival of Mobile Véloman™️ at 08:30. It was hard to believe he would actually arrive and make cycling great again. Jackie paced nervously around the campsite entrance for a while. True to his word he appeared on time, our lycra-clad saviour. He fitted a new gear cable on Jackie’s bike in his marvellous mobile workshop and charged a very reasonable sum without taking advantage of our predicament. What a thoroughly decent chap.

We had booked breakfast and found our croissants waiting for us on a table outside the restaurant. There was a good selection of buffet items too including a choice of fresh fruit, yoghurt, bread and preserves.

As we left the campsite we saw that Mobile Véloman™️ had not yet managed to leave and was now providing salvation for another desperate camper with a broken bike. What a superhero!

We started our ride on a big but pleasant road winding through a scenic gorge. Arrived in a town with lunch in it. Had baguettes stuffed with chicken, salad, chips and curry mayonnaise – currynnaise perhaps?

Afternoon riding was through open countryside full of vines with mountains in the distance. It was very hot and there was a strong headwind most of the time. A few cheeky little short climbs in the hot sun but nothing major. The landscape was now looking very Mediterranean.

The day’s ride finished on a Voi Verte built on an old railway line – level, new smooth tarmac, some shade and far less wind for the last 4 miles. A welcome finish as we were quite tired.

The campsite in Sommières was excellent primarily because it had roast chicken crisps. We put up our tent and I sat on the grass and inflated my mattress. I was watched by a whippet on the pitch opposite and each time I blew into my bed his pointy grey ears shot up, when I stopped blowing they dropped again instantly. This amused me greatly and I enjoyed messing about with the rhythm of my breath and watching him react every time without fail.

We cycled into town for dinner. We’d picked Sommières as the only spot for miles around with any campsites and knew nothing more about it. We were pleasantly surprised to find an old town that looked almost Moorish with lots of narrow streets and stone arches. We found a restaurant with outdoor seating. I had lasagne yet again which I was very happy about. Jackie had pizza which turned out to be too cheesy even for her! She ate just over half of it and the waitress put the rest in a full size pizza box. It was a challenge to fit this into the pannier on my bike but I managed by shoving it very hard.

We cycled back to camp, taking a random long route to see a bit more of the town. Put the pizza slices into our marvellous airtight Tupperware to keep night time critters away from it. Then to bed.

Miles cycled: 35

Total miles: 808

Metres climbed: 450

Good things today: