Day 11 Baumes Les Meisseurs to Les Rousses

A beautiful evening camping beside the rather swollen river meant we awoke to a wonderful spot for al fresco breakfast; I was particularly cheerful that fresh croissants and pain au chocolat delivered to the campsite at dawn! Delicious! I had hoped to enjoy a little cycling with my mum first thing this morning, but a mechanical failure on her bike precluded this, so instead my warm up was a rather nifty climb of some 400m vertical ascent. The heat had resumed but I was happy nonetheless as I was in distinctly alpine territory which makes my heart soar for joy! I hope I still feel this at the end of the Raid Alpine! Komoot took me an interesting route first thing, cutting a corner, which my beloved Trek on 25mm tyres served me well; bike nerd alert; I can heartily recommend the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres! My first col of the trip; the Col de la Percee at 579m elevation; and shortly after a wonderful view point from which you can see the array of lakes for which the area is famous, and also the peaks of my final destination for the day! Being a rather warm day, I treated myself to a cold snack stop; I was particularly happy with my EU cocktail umbrella a top the ice cream selection – pistachio, walnut & apricot! Delicious! Just what the doctor ordered! A rare event thereafter my mum happened to pass me by; so, we arranged a rendezvous point for some kilometers hence by a lake for lunch and on I pedaled; distracted a little enroute by beautiful orchids! Lakeside lunch was delicious, and although swimming was forbidden, I enjoyed a little lunchtime paddle to cool off, and also wash my cycle top and neck scarf. I discovered that the little SPF50 scarf I bought in Japan was a very effective cooling aid if doused regularly in cold water! Onwards and definitely upwards; today’s vertical climb is 1800m and I had 1200m remaining to achieve! I could tell the end of the day was mostly up! Singing some Yazz to myself I pedalled along, firstly through Saint Laurent en GrandVaux and then to Morbier; I was lucky enough to experience brand new asphalt, do tell me if I need to work on my conversational topics!!! It was quite entertaining as there were laying the new Route National between France and Switzerland (Besancon to Geneva) and were rather surprised to find a lone cyclist weaving their way up the very steep slope! The descent was divine! The climb up from Morbier towards Les Rousses was less divine; the road was rather narrow and the traffic heavy as it was r ush hour and many people working in Switzerland live in France commuting this route daily. I was rather circumspect of a route taking me on a route nationale, i.e., an A road, however Komoot, Google and Apple maps concurred as did my own appraisal of an actual map, the only route was the big road. I am always attentive of road signage, and when the sign forbade pedestrians, I did consider what to do, but cyclists were not forbidden so I continued apace. Similarly, to yesterday the sky had darkened, and sure enough as I started my ascent the heavens opened, huge heavy clods of rain, thwacking my skin with vigour! I was very glad for my Sun God cycle glasses protecting my eyes, a very thoughtful gift, and my waterproof jacket, bought on a wet Welsh cycling trip for a friend’s birthday in 2020! The weather deteriorated and I resorted to Claire style motivational tactics, singing the back catalogue of Funky Little Choir Classics; Florence & The Machine’s, you’ve got the love; Moloko’s, sing it back; I probably looked a little odd singing to myself as I cycled uphill on a busy road in a rainstorm! However, the thunder & lightning started and the free water on the hill was becoming a little tricky, so I was so pleased to find a bus stop just below Les Rousses to ride out the storm! Onwards and upwards tomorrow towards Switzerland!