Today’s ride: 103km, 1427m elevation

Total to date: 1106km, 12675m elevation

The church in Jausiers had one of those bells that rings every half an hour from 6am, making it an effective snooze button. As is normal in such situations, I left it one snooze too many and woke up late. The early morning swifts that had accompanied the peals had dispersed, and swallows were instead swooping under a clear blue sky. The sun would soon peep over the mountains. It was time to get going.

We easily rolled the few kilometres into Barcelonette and got breakfast from a supermarket. A man from Bilbao came to chat about our bikes and told us it would be hot soon, and we’d better get moving. Chastened for a second time before even finishing my custard tart, we started riding properly.

Col de la Cayolle is a lovely climb. It rises up to 2326m from Barcelonette at 1100m, but does it over almost 30km. Overall then it’s a long but not too steep climb, with some harder sections but generally averaging only around 5%. We worried that the greater issues would be the heat and the lack of water en route.

Actually, we need not have worried. There were regular village fountains on the way, providing an unlimited supply of cool fresh water straight from the mountain. There was plenty of shade for the most part, so as soon as we overexerted we rested.

The ride was made more interesting by the racers we shared the route with from Barcelonette. They were taking part in a local timed race over three cols, with times being taken on the climbs only to discourage high speed descents. Every couple of minutes, a highly-honed athlete with not a scrap of body fat would hare past us, sometimes with a greeting and occasionally with disbelief or encouragement. There was a good sense of camaraderie and when we took a break we applauded the riders past.

The route winds initially through some small villages, then climbs up through conifer forest. Water is ever present, from the wide river valleys and gorges in the lower stretches, through waterfalls and even to patches of high damp Alpine meadows. Five kilometres out, the road steepens until it comes out above the tree line, where there are buttercups and wild flowers flanking the road to the top. I timed my arrival at the top to coincide perfectly with some of the racers, and piggybacked off the applause that was meant for them.

The descent was beautiful too, and went on for most of the rest of the day. The steepest part was first and we paused at the Refuge La Cantonniére for a Bière du Comté before heading down to the Auberge in Entraunes, which closed as we arrived.

We were speeding along and didn’t really slow up until we reached the Gorges de Laluis. This is an incredible natural area of red shale cliffs that drop steeply into a gorge below. The road twists through 17 narrow tunnels as it makes its way through this stunning area and there are incredible bridges spanning the difficult sections. I’d love to go back with more time to explore.

The valley spat us out just west of Entreveux, a medical walled town designed by Vauban, leaving us a 30 minute ride to our campsite at Puget-Theniers. This friendly little site is the perfect springboard to cover the last 100km or so to Nice tomorrow.