June 15, 2025

I have been hearing about this People Cycling trip from numerous friends in Morris Area Freewheelers for many years. Everyone has raved about the beautiful hotel, the charming town of Vaison la Romaine, the beautiful bike routes and the amazing opportunity to climb the iconic Mont Ventoux. Because the trip is popular and fills up quickly, I booked it almost a year ago after I got home from Crete. As I described the proposed climb up Ventoux to various non-cycling friends – 15 miles gaining more than 5000ft – they all looked at me dumbfounded and said, “why on earth would you want to do that???” I guess the answer is peer pressure, of the best kind.

Getting ready to go on this trip and training for the challenge was a bit rocky. I got a cold or flu in April that kept me from riding for a week or so and sapped my energy. Many windy, rainy days also got in the way, and just when I was starting to build back some strength and momentum in May, I twisted my knee running in agility class. It didn’t seem like a bad injury, no swelling or discoloration, but I still took more days off and started the rehab exercises right away. Running wasn’t comfortable but thankfully It felt OK to ride. I was certainly not at my strongest as I boarded the plane for Paris, but I figured I would be fine enough. After all, I have enjoyed climbing on all the other bike trips I have done.

Kerry Hazelton and her husband were also on the trip, as well as another friend of theirs. With forty participants and three friends, I expected that I would certainly be able to find people with whom I could ride and socialize. The hotel was indeed charming, perched up on the hill in the ancient section of the town. We ate breakfast in a beautiful garden overlooking the newer part of the city and had long relaxed dinners in a gorgeous inner courtyard. A lovely pool up the hill beckoned for afternoon swims and naps after our rides. My rented road bike was comfortable and dependable and the other folks on the trip were interesting and fun to get to know. It was great to stay in one place for eight days of riding and one day off for the not to be missed local market, running every Tuesday since 1483! The routes were varied and beautiful, stopping at charming small towns for coffee and pastry, peeking in ancient churches and refilling water bottles at roman fountains. It was also fun to haver conversations in French with the country folk who didn’t always speak English. The weather was mostly perfect with sunny skies and mild temps and only a few days with smokey smoggy air.

Kerry and I rode together on the day up Mont Ventoux. Neither of us had slept well the night before, worrying about all the various difficulties we might encounter. Long story short – everything I was worried about did indeed happen, but I managed to keep going and make it to the top anyway. (Something valuable to be learned here about middle of the night fretting.) There was an MS fund raising event happening that day and the roadway was full of walkers and cyclists and support vehicles and rest stops as well as cars and motorcycles. At one point a pickup truck in front of me had to stop because of an oncoming car waiting for a group of walkers. I hoped they would move by the time I got to them, but no, I had to stop and put my foot down and wait for the traffic jam to sort itself out. The road at that point was way too steep to get started again, but another group of walkers behind me offered to give me a push. With a combination of English, German, French and, “Un, deux, troi, allez!!!” they got me going again and we all felt part of a great group effort up the mountain. 

At many points along the 15 mile climb, the voices in my head screamed “you have to stop!” “if you stop now you will have to turn around and go down!” “you’re not going to make it!” I was surprised at what a mental battle it was. I answered the voices with – no, my legs feel ok, my heart feels ok, my breathing feels ok, I can keep going just a little bit more. I did stop many times in the three and a half hours it took me to do the climb, and often at the rest areas set up for the MS event. I also ate all the food and gummies I brought with me. The William Tell Overture playing in my head helped me up the last few kilometers, but it was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done both mentally and physically. Kerry arrived at the summit about 30 minutes before me, and when we ran into each other in the circus atmosphere and crowds of cyclists we hugged and celebrated and bought salty chips and sweet fruit juice to help restore and fortify us for the speedy descent.

Of course there were difficulties on the tour as well. Someone crashed and was injured in the early days of the trip which was very upsetting. Some of the socializing got to be too much after 10 days. As I observed many of the couples in our group, I missed Michael and wished he could have shared this with me. But I knew with the steep climb up to the hotel, the challenging driving with narrow streets and tiny parking places, and the overwhelming socializing, it was the right decision for him not to come. Maybe we can find another bike trip that he can come along on next time.