The French Death Valley

 

We weren’t sure where to go for a bike ride so we looked at the map.  Hey, there’s the Val d’Enfer!  And it doesn’t look very far on the map, only an inch or so.  How hard could that be?

We conveniently forgot that the Val d’Enfer is on the other side of the Alpilles, the small mountain range that starts behind our house.

Val d’Enfer means “Valley of Hell” and it is a rocky, sun-baked valley of austere beauty near the famous hilltop town of Les Baux.  How cool would it be to bike there?  And so, armed with more enthusiasm than common sense, off we went.
We found our way to the road that goes up and over the Alpilles.  The Up part we could see.  As for Over, well, we would have to take that on faith.

We started pedaling.  Up, up, up, through vineyards and forests.  Wow, what a road!  Further and further up we went, our lungs and legs on fire.  We stopped periodically to catch our breath and massage our legs.  Up, up, up.  Long minutes ticked by.

At this point we had gone oh, maybe half a mile.  Much less than that inch on the map.

Onward!  The day was getting hotter and hotter.  The only breeze was from all the other riders whizzing by us with a friendly “Bonjour!” and a look of concern on their faces.

Up, up, up we went, slower and slower.   Old ladies passed us on their bikes.  A man walking a dog.  An old guy with a cane.  Seriously, we’ve got to get in better shape.

After what seemed like hours, we made it to the top and the first rocky crags of the Val d’Enfer loomed before us.  Victory!  But not quite.  Riding through the Val d’Enfer itself presents its own challenge, so we decided to leave it for another day. 

I guess you could say that we made it through the Valley of Heck.

KVS

Up, up, up

 At the top!