Castelnou

1/10/07

Dark clouds hang on the Alberes range behind me as I descend to the valley road and take the D618, or one of it's offspring, towards Le Boulou to meet Geoff and venture on a slightly longer, 100k ride today.

I'm there early and so is he so we'll have a few more minutes at the cafe in Millas later. I'm familiar with the D13 now and notice that there are artificial lakes to the left, originally made by the Romans, for swimming. St Jean Pla de Corts arrives and we dip into the first rond point, take the first exit and head towards Vives for a 6k climb.

Feeling good and knowing where the road kicks, and knowing that we have lots of k's in front of us, I relax into the effort and tap out a beat. The clouds have lifted on our part of the valley, but around the Pic de Trois Termes and my village of Villelongue the clouds are still clinging. After the descent, some familiar towns, Llauro, Torderes, Montauriol and Fourques and then we continue north.

Past St Colombe de la Commanderie, we head towards Thuir under two rows of ancient Plains trees and acres of lettuces, peaches and grapes. Geoff shares that during the grape season he brings a plastic bag and some snippers to bring grapes back home and during the peach season he never runs low on food.

In the midst of this beauty and abundance, a row of shanties just over the road's gutter. It's a school day, but kids wander around. "Gypsies," Geoff offers. This leads to a discussion about the right wing politics of the entire Med region of France. Thuir interrupts us as we skirt the larger town single file. It's easier to follow him as we sometimes dodge quickly into an alley or take a sharp exit on a fast rond point. Geoff's been riding these roads nearly every day for four years and knows all of the routes and their variations.

Soon we're in Millas, a gritty and interesting town with older architecture and years of use evident on the facades, much different than the sun-splashed retirement and vacation villages where we're staying. At the Cafe de Midi, I follow Geoff to the outside tables and we order deux cafes au lait grandes and enjoy people watching for a while. I take the opportunity to take off some layers and my hat and leggings. It's warmed up to about 60.

Amazing what coffee does for the soul and the legs, I think as we roll out of Millas, heading south towards home. I see a sign for Thuir and think we'll retrace our route back. Then there is a sign for Castelnou and we take a hard right, heading for an imposing mountain. I look for routes to the right or left, but no, we're going to head up. Funny, Geoff didn't mention this.

Castelnou is a fortress and village dating from before the 12th century and one was one of the main defensive positions of the Albigois or Cathars that rebelled against the Orthodoxy of the Church. The fortress is perched high on the mountain with a lookout tower forward on another hill, commanding the entire route ascending the valley. In 1209, the Cathars were defeated after the Vatican offered their lands to anyone that defeated them.

We're heading up switchbacks now and the road is kicking, kicking. It's almost alive; I can feel the asphalt grabbing my legs, but we're keeping a good pace. A ancient Renault is following us a few hundred meters behind, and beeps when we're on parallel swithbacks. A friendly beep, admitting it couldn't go any faster if it wanted to. How many k is this?

Turns out to be about 7 as we crest one hill and are greeted by one of the most amazing sites I've seen so far, an ancient castle, square with an equally ancient village perched impossibly at it's base on the steep slopes. We descent a bit and then climb for real. I have no idea where the top is, but Geoff does and sprints for the mountain points and I know we're at the summit.
Soon we're descending on the D2 and we're back in Fourques for our route home.