Thuir and St. Columbier

Guy and I reached are stay at Castelnou, this charming hillside beaux arts (potters, ceramics, artistians) town nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Its a hillside village with narrow streets only wide enough for pedestrians.

We went for a quick ride (1 hour 20 min) through the town of Thuir and St. Columbier where Guy easily won the king of the mountain points on the first two of the days three climbs. We found ourselves on a quiet road draped with grapes of a muscat wine growing region and a road that warned us of 15% slopes (which were no problem for our 29 tooth gearing). The ride back had us climbing the col into castelnou where Lisa found her self again, gradually pushing pace until she summited the top of the col, breathing hard and beaming with joy of thinking about nothing more than victory of pushing hard and not giving in. Chest constrained, yet loosening with the bliss that surrounds (give me another few days and ill be totally free). The days stats:

Temp: 82, sunny
Time: 1 hour 20min
Elev: 1300 ft climbing
Foie Gras Factor: success (about an 8)
Happy Factor: 9+