Day 1 – Le Bleymard to Coucouron
Right at the exit from Le Bleymard, a sign announced that the Goulet Summit was 5.67 km away, at an altitude of 1452 m, with the road climbing at an average gradient of 6.4%. Good luck, Igor! It took 50 minutes to get up there, involving intermittent walking or intermittent cycling—take your pick. Covering roughly the same distance going down the other side took just 10 minutes—not nearly enough time to recover before the next climb. And there were a few long ones ahead.
At one point I passed through Pradelles, a village listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France. I don’t know if it got onto that list by mistake or by bribe; I didn’t find it pretty at all, and I’ve seen a few.
After those climbs, I listened to the voice of common sense—Julie’s, that is—and stopped roughly halfway to Saint-Martial in a small village called Coucouron. Not only was there a campsite, but also a bakery and grocery store—a must-have. On top of that, there was a lake nearby. I took advantage of it to get some sun and even out my farmer’s tan.
Day 2 – Coucouron to Mont Gerbier de Jonc
Maybe I stopped yesterday before I hit the wall, and recovered better for it. Or maybe knowing the ride would be short helped mentally. Either way, today was easier.
I left Coucouron loaded with provisions — at the destination there’s no commerce, and even if there were, it would be closed on Sunday. So I traveled like a proper Frenchman, baguette strapped to the front bag.
The destination was Saint-Martial, a small village 10 km past the Loire source and the nearest campsite. To avoid retracing my steps I took an alternative route to the one described in the book. There was some climbing, but when I reached the Gerbier de Jonc summit I was relatively unfazed.
And right there I made a decision: no reason to push on to Saint-Martial and wait until tomorrow. I was at the Loire source. That was it — Lot source to Loire source, end of the intermediate chapter.
Between the Sources ride in numbers:
88 km — distance cycled
1417 masl – altitude of Gerbier de Jonc summit