Long way home

With the swelling having gone down on my ankle, a quiet Sunday in prospect and the sun making a welcome re-appearance, I decided it was time that I got back on my bike.

I felt pretty good too and made it to Trebes in no time so pushed on a bit further to Capendu before turning northwards in to the Minervois to Marseillette. That took me an hour and while I stopped for a drink I considered my options. I could have come back all along the canal and that would have been a pretty good ride but I was feeling bullish and you don't get better unless you push yourself.

I carried on into the Minervois through Aiges Vives and on to Laure Minervois. By now I had been going for just under two hours but I still felt ok.

However my route back was directly into the wind - which had suddenly picked up as it does here - and was far more taxing than I was hoping. I had driven the road between Laure and Villarzel many times - it goes past the wine estate at Chateau Saint Jacques d'Albas (top reds) - but funny how I never noticed that the road winds consistently uphill for a good three kilometres. Well you certainly notice it when you are on a bike.

It was slow and hard going but the one thing you can't do is stop - you need to get into a rythym. When I finally crested the hill I took some very deep breaths as I coasted along the top. There was a magnificent view of the whole Aude valley across to the Pyrenees in the distance. Carcassonne was nestled down in the middle and looked very small. I remember thinking 'that looks a long way away'.

Fortunately it was a bit easier going into Villarzel and on to Bagnoles and Malves Cabardes. I got my wind back and started to enjoy it again. My plan was to avoid going back to Trebes and cut across to meet the Canal du Midi. This meant going via Villedubert and that was the flaw in my plan - it sits on top of a hill. Not a big hill admittedly and if I'd tackled it earlier in the day it wouldn't have been a problem but it just about finished me off.

I coasted down the other side to the canal and slowly made my way back home - I tried to up the pace a few times but my legs wouldn't respond so it ended up being a fairly gentle meander.

When I got back home I was exhausted and could barely walk up the stone staircase to the apartment. I put the telly on in the mezzanine suite and watched the TdF guys cycle 200kms and finish going vertically up a Swiss Alp into Verbier - made me feel a bit sick just watching - they are both mad and amazing at the same time.

This evening I did a dinner for the Scottish guests in the Apartment suite - gluten free for him so no chocolate puddings or fig tarts or bread with the cheese.

And the new bites on my leg are driving me mad. They are actually three days old now and I don't know when or where I got them. They look very different to the mosquito bites I got in the Quercy and they itch like hell, no matter how much cream I apply. maybe it wasn't a mosquito or maybe it was a different sort of mosquito - I don't know.

That's another day gone - I need to sleep.