Bike Ride Day 4

Day 4 – Thurs June 7.

Tony had determined he needed to catch a late-morning train from the village of Pierrelatte, about 2-3 hours away.  So after a breakfast of coffee, fresh orange juice, home-made preserves, bread, and croissants of various types, we headed out.  We picked up the route near the bridge into town and had a peaceful ride down country roads, between fields and vineyards, across small bridges, and into Pierrelatte in plenty of time for Tony’s train.  After seeing him off, Roger and I headed south and west out of town to intersect again with our planned route.   There was no actual bike trail in this area, but the roads were very rural and peaceful.  Unfortunately, they also tended to be somewhat indirect, so we often covered three sides of a rectangle in order to get to a point where the fourth side would have been.  We were on a large rural island for this segment, between the actual Rhone and a barge canal.

David and Tony at the Pierrelatte Station

The plaque behind David and Tony memorializes an attack by allied aircraft during WWII on a German train known as the 'Phantom Train' that was carrying men and women to imprisonment at Dachau.  A local doctor assisted the wounded and succeed in helping one man escape recapture.  The planes of course did not know who was on the train.

We had lunch in Pont-Saint-Espirit, where we watched as classes of junior-high age kids went by, remarking on the almost total absence of very over-weight kids.

After lunch, the road went along the river past power plants, with not many trees or scenery, some small hills, and much sun with a warm head wind blowing.  Probably the most difficult section so far.  At one point, I stopped at the top of a rise, under a tree, looked around, and no Roger.  After a few minutes, he appeared, having stopped to ask to fill his water bottle, which he generously shared with me.

At about three in the afternoon, we stopped in the small village of Codolet for a beer and lots of water.  As we did not know the hotel situation in the village we were headed for, we decided that we would check out the hotels in this town.  There appeared to be two; the only one with space available was a one-star establishment called La Petite Hutte.  Very small rooms with a sink, but clean, and W/C and shower down the hall.  No A/C of course, but we decided to take it.  It was a hot, muggy night, with thunderstorms, and a downpour in the middle of the night.  Not very restful, but it served the purpose.

Distance ridden by the maps: about 60km.