Mostly Bikes ⨯ Me

VCMB Normandy 300k.

2026-03-21

Rolled out with a handful of riders at 5am in time to catch the sun rising over the Seine. There were 50 or so riders registered, but most hung around the start drinking coffee and socializing, presumably departing sometime… later? No big surprise that this one rode a lot like PBP, or Coulee for that matter: foggy valleys between steep climbs to plateaus of softly rolling hills. Except that corker of a 17% grade coming out of Elbeuf, nothing too intense and a lot less riding in the dark. The Carrefour City in Évreux had rice balls, a nice break from crusty bread and buttery pastries.

Château Saint-Lambert

2026-03-17

Up on a hill, off a little used road over the ridge that borders the northern edge of Luberon sits a castle. This castle sticks out for a singular reason: The shutters are open. The shutters are never open. Better check this one out. Probably just a locked gate at the top of the steep unmaintained road. Nope. The isolated 17th century castle was purchased by the local government and converted to a sanatorium in the 1930s and repurposed to a psychiatric institution in the 1990s. The hospital eventually closed, and was sold to the wealthy owner of a chain of boarding schools who left it abandoned, which hasn't gone well.

Another Col de l'Homme Mort?

2026-03-13

Why are there so many dead guy passes around here? Actually, never mind. Back from Gap.

Preview image for Another Col de l'Homme Mort?

Caromb - Gap

2026-03-12

First leg of an overnighter to Gap in lieu of the weekend’s cancelled-for-weather 200k brevet. Fingers crossed for the 300k near Paris next weekend.

Northern Luberon

2026-03-08

Spring incoming. Lambs on the hillside and flowers on the rosemary, but Luberon is still quiet. In a few months they'll be fighting for parking here. Shame, that.