Day 3 : 50.56 miles, 5:14 hours, Seix
[ MAP ]

I had another restless sleep in the morning, waking up every time I needed to turn over. Maybe my body's idea of comfort is changing as I get older.

The road out of Tarascon rose very gradually to the town of Vicdessos. Dozens of cyclists passed me regularly all the way. The road up to Port de Lers began just outside of town. I tried to follow a group of cyclists but the starting 16% gradient slowed me down...just a little.

A man, looking at least seventy years old passed me with his head down and legs turning steady and surely like clockwork. I pulled in behind him, he didn't seem to mind me chasing him. It was good to have a reference and be able to maintain a steady pace. I couldn't keep it up for long and eventually stopped to stuff my face with bananas and chocolate. Towards the top I was passed by more cyclists, some calling out "Bravissimo" as they passed, one saying "You must be very tough!". "No, just very stupid," I replied. Switchbacks eased me towards the summit, with the wind at the top letting me know I was close.

Rewarded myself at the top with my first fatty French sausage of the trip. So much of it gets stuck in my teeth that I can continue snacking on it for the rest of the day.

It was a short and sweet downhill to the start of the next climb. Col d'Agnes was a series of steep switchbacks all the way to the top. It was a lonelier summit. All the cyclists seemed to have passed me by now and I was left to look at the splendid, desolate grey mountains on the other side by myself.

The steep and winding downhill was definitely worth every puff of exhausted breath I spent getting up it. I dropped into the town of Aulus-les-Bains where the driver of a cycling tour support van gave me a bottle full of fresh cold water and wished me luck. It was straight into another climb, Col de Latrape, quite a bit easier than the past two. Another wicked downhill into the Vallée d'Ustou, following along the tiny river Alet.

I got into Seix and after some misdirection from the tourist office map eventually found a campground a few kilometres out of town. Considered going back into town but once I got settled into a bag of pistachios I wasn't going anywhere.

[The hills:
    3.   Port de Lers: altitude = 1516m; dénivelé = 801m; distance = 11.5km; grade = 7% average, 9.5% max.
    4.   Col d'Agnes: altitude = 1580m; dénivelé = 270m; distance = 4.8km; grade = 5.6% average, 8% max.
    5.   Col de Latrape: altitude = 1110m; dénivelé = 365m; distance = 5km; grade = 7.3% average, 8% max.]