Monday, October 6, 2008

our first ride

Les Costes

Yesterday was our first ride in 3 weeks. We couldn't wait to get back on our bikes. We left our house and and the end of our driveway had to choose left or right...both ways are up and not easy. We chose right and decided to go to a neighboring village called Najac. We had visited Najac last year, it's a lovely village with a castle that dates back to the 1600's. I wanted to go there because Anke, a woman I met last year was now living there and we were hoping to find her. All I can say is that I will become such a strong biker here as there is no "flat" in the Aveyron, only up and down. It took us about 20 minutes to reach the top of our first hill, I was in my easiest gear and it was so hard. Then we road up and down (easy hills) until we went down and down and down into Najac. The down was cold too. Not sure if I mentioned it but there was frost on the meadow and on the car window yesterday and today. Burrr. Although the down part was easy I knew that meant we would have to climb out of Najac.

nice house!

on the way up out of Najac



up into Najac

When we arrived we went to the cafe, I had a decafé au lait and Bruce his usual café grand noir. We asked the woman at the bar if she happened to know Anke. Ah, oui...and in french asked if we were looking for her. We told her the story and that we were back for a year and that we'd love to see her. She pulls out her cell phone and gives us her mobile number and then tells us where she is living. How crazy is that. We finished our café and road the bikes down to her house and there she was! She wasn't expecting us and we haven't spoken to her since last year, she was so surprised. We spent 2 hours with her catching up. She is a cyclist too and so we can't wait to do some riding together and to have her to the house for dinner.

We then headed "up" towards home. A different route, but still up. We road 20 miles today (still trying to figure out km), so about 2 hours...2 hours of riding and 2 hours of visiting, I like it. We have decided any day that it is sunny we will ride, it doesn't have to be warm (because we brought many layers of warm biking clothes) but it must be sunny. If it's cold and gray, no deal.



some of our neighbors



heading home

7 comments:

Barbara said...

Hi there !
I'm happy to see you both settling in and getting used to your area. That is so nice that you found your friend too ! That will help to have friends nearby, and be more fun.

Keep in enjoying and learning.

islandgirl4ever2 said...

Looks lovely!! Reminds me of all the nice French countryside we see when we are on vacation!!! I LOVE it!!! Glad you guys got out and biked around today AND found your friend!! What a great surprise for her, I'm sure!! You must LOVE breathing all the Fresh air out there... As opposed to all the guck in LA.... (I'm from LA originally, you know!) Anyhow.. Love reading your posts.. keep 'em comin'!!!
Take care,
Leesa

La Framéricaine said...

Two thumbs up on ride #1! And thank you for not gaslighting me any more than absolutely necessary;>)

I'm glad to know that you are settled into your new home and already off to the local café and friends' homes. That is fantastic!

Amitiés,

La Belette Rouge said...

Hope your neighbors( cows, goats, etc.) will be good ones and not keep you up at night with loud parties.;-)
Cannot believe the synchronicity you had when getting coffee. Looks like a lovely first ride and a great bit of discovery of your new neighborhood.

1A said...

So good to hear you're there! Rock on!

Randal Graves said...

All those hills have worn me out already. ;-) Beautiful scenery to ride through!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.