Castellane from N 85 while climbing out
This was another hard days ride with 3300 feet of climbing and several hours of grinding gently uphill into the wind.
It started with a 450 M (1500 ft) climb out of Castellane and went, mostly, downhill from there
Gap is neat looking place with real mountains in the background
It is also a busy place with, on N 85, a lot of traffic
Speaking of too much traffic, A 51 ends about ten miles south of gap.
I knew I would have hard climbing getting from Castellane to the Durance Valley, yes the Durance again - it is the main river in the lower part of the wide valley in easter France, but I didn't know that, when N 85 turned north, I would be riding into a headwind as well as climbing. That headwind added at least an hour to my riding time and turned a, relatively, easy day into a hard day. I was exhausted when I finally got into Gap at about 7 PM.
My other problem tody was that my expensive lunch wasn't as good or a substantial as it should have been. In addition to being exhausted, I was hungry when I rode into Gap. I normally have been making my own bread, cheese, and fruit supper, but tonight I stopped at McDs and devoured a supersized (they don't call it that here) Chicken Premiere Menu. Oh, I'll never get over the shame of eating at McDs in France!
When you see the switchback ahead that far above you, you know you are in for a climb
The view looking north from the middle of the climb
Looking back from near the top of the climb
The high point of this ride
Here is a view of the valley from near the top of the descent
There is a little tunnel in that rock wall
A more mundane part of the descent near the river
Riding along the river
I stopped for lunch at a hotel just before the climb to the second col. This about 10 km from Digne. Lunch wasn't all that it should have been, but I still enjoyed it. Then I climbed the 150 meters to the second col - no big deal - and rode on to Digne. Digne was a bit of a pain with lots of traffic and N 85 heading for the valley was curbed which always makes riding in heavy traffic more dangerous. That only lasted a mile or two, but I got passed by a lot of vehicles, including big trucks and buses, when I could not get out of their way. It would have been dangerous in the US. So would much of the remaining section with moderate traffic, narrow lanes and, most of the time, no shoulder. No big deal in France.
Digne
The second col wasn't much
Leaving the mountains on N 85, a look back
Riding north on N 85
The ride north was a real grind, except for the part through Sisteron which is an interesting town. There were also some good view of real mountains and, in some parts, the wind was blocked so that riding wasn't bad. When N85 gets the traffic from A 51, about ten miles south of town, the riding gets harder. That section also has several substantial hills on it and, late in the day, they weren't fun. Speaking of fun, there is an airport just after A 51 ends and I did get to watch a glider which I think had been launched from there, playing in the updrafts for an hour or more. Nice.
A neat bridge over N 85 and A 51, 15 miles or so south of Gap
This is Sisteron, the road goes through that rock with the buildings on it!
The Durance is channeled and right alongside N 85 for much of the ride north
All the autoroute traffic as well as N 85 traffic is on this road
That little squared off thing sticking up beside the weed
on the left hand side is the big rock that dominates Castellone