Geoff's blog

Today started in the usual manner and Bora, our dog, had her hour-long walk with me in the early morning sunshine.

She’s getting to feel her age now and the hot weather (18°C this morning, so not too bad) really makes her puff and pant; the walks keep her trim and fit, however.

On our return I went for a 10 km run around our countryside, going from home to the village of Bleid, next door, and home again.

At Bleid I met a dear work colleague of mine standing at the front of his house. He’s been home from work for the past 13 months with lung cancer. The good news is that he had just been given the “all-clear” and he will be returning to work on the 1st of August; really great news.

I’ll be travelling to Luxembourg at the beginning of August to have lunch with some of my old work-mates, so I’ll call in on my neighbour to see how he’s readapting to working life.

Today’s run was the first in a long while and my muscles will be sore tomorrow. Here’s a view of my circuit:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/532938045


The photo was taken during one of my cycling trips. I’ve added it here as I passed the monument on my run today.

Photo: On the country track running from the summit of “Bakèse” to the Rue des Juifs, Mussy (also know as “La Tuerie”): a cross and monument in memory of Jean-François de Nothomb. The plinth in local stone has the following engraving: “Ici périt dans sa victoire en octobre 1668 Jean-François de Nothomb en défendant la route d’Arlon sa ville natale contre les pillards étrangers”.

19/04/2014: The holiday is coming to an end and I think I may just get in another ride before we leave the Costa Brava at the end of the week. 802 km in three weeks is quite acceptable, seeing as we’ve also been walking the dog three times a day.

Today’s ride took me on three big hill-climbs; I’ve done them all before but not all in the same ride. The weather this morning started with a blue sky and a very light NE wind. By the end of the ride, the clouds had set in, the temperature dropped to around 17C and the wind blew up very strong.

The Costa Brava is the place to get in some great cycling. The coast road between Sant Feliu de Guixols and Tossa has breathtaking views; the hill to Sant Grau has gradients between 4% and 14%. I stayed on the roads and didn’t use the cycle tracks, which meanta hazardous ride between Llagostera and Cassa de la Selva: there is a lane for cyclists on each side of the road but the traffic is heavy, especially on an Easter weekend.

Between Cassa and La Bisbal it’s a lot quieter and you pass through pine and cork tree forests. The same for the stretch between La Bisbal and Calonge by the “Col de la Ganga” route.

The ride can be viewed on my Garmin account at: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/482810177

Photo: Santa Pellaia.

The hills included:
Sant Grau d’Ardenya at 477 m
(see http://www.poblesdecatalunya.cat/element.php?e=6262),

Santa Pellaia at 350 m
(see http://www.pueblos-espana.org/cataluna/gerona/santa+pellaia/), and

Le Col de La Ganga (between La Bisbal d’Empordà and Calonge) at 230 m.

Photo: Sant Sadurní de l’Heura.

The whole circuit included Sant Antoni de Calonge – Calonge – Platja d’Aró – S’Agaró – Sant Feliu de Guixols – coast road dir. Tossa de Mar – Sant Grau – Llagostera – Cassa de la Selva – Santa Pellaia – Sant Sadurní de l’Heura – Cruïlles – La Bisbal de l’Empordà – Calonge par “La Ganga” – Sant Antoni.

Today’s good weather continued and I left around 8.30 for a cycle along the coast to Tossa de Mar.

The intention was to get to Tossa turn around and come back on the same route. However, at Tossa I decided to continue on to Llagostera and from there the long hill-climb to Romanya de la Selva and the great downhill slalom to Calonge and home.

The Garmin routes can be viewed at:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/481033178

and

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/481036104

Photo: A kind German tourist took a photo of me with Tossa de Mar in the background.

Photo: The village of Romanya de la Selva.

Since my last blog I’ve been out on six more circuits, mostly following the same routes as I’m comfortable using roads that I know very well here.

My accident in August 2006 has made me very conscious of the dangers of cycling, especially in Spain, when a white-van man knocked me off my bike and then drove off leaving me with a pelvis fractured in five places.

Seven weeks in traction in the local hospital in Palamós and then six months of reeducation — unforgettable.

To date, I have clocked up 550 km since the start of our April holiday on the Costa Brava. Saturday’s trip of 92 km was the hardest so far as I rode up “Els Angels”, between Madremanya and Quart (near Girona). I’d left Sant Antoni at sea level and arrived at the sanctuary of Els Angels at 480 m above sea level.

There’s a five-km hill-climb of an average of 8% (between 4 and 12% gradients on the way up. I last did this trip on the bike in 2005 and had forgotten how difficult it can be. Anyway, I did it and am very pleased with myself.

The Garmin GPS can be viewed at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/479819563

Photo: The village of Madremanya, just before the hill-climb to “Els Angels”.

Photo: The sanctuary at “Els Angels” at 480 m above sea level.

After the descent from Els Angels to Quart, I picked up the Ruta del carillet (cycle track) all the way back to Platja d’Aró, then the coast road to home.

The holiday in Spain got off to a cold and damp start: 15°C and a couple of days of rain. Back home in Belgium it’s 23°C

Anyway, today, 4 April, the temperature has gone up and the sun is shining. After a light lunch, I decided to ride into the hill range known as “Les Gavarres”. A lot of cyclists out on the road today, which is always good to see; could be TeamSky with Sir Bradley Wiggins doing some training!

The route took me from Sant Antoni to Cassa de la Selvà by the Ruta del carillet, then on to La Bisbal de l’Empordà, Calonge and return to Sant Antoni.

Sant Antoni de Calonge – Calonge – Platja d’Aró – S’Agaró – piste to Castell d’Aró – Santa Cristina d’Aró – Llagostera then to Cassa de la Selvà – road GI664 to Santa Pelliaia – Sant Sadurní de l’Heura – Cruïlles – La Bisbal de l’Empordà, road GI660 to Calonge and return to Sant Antoni.

I filmed all of today’s circuit and will endeavour to add a snippet in the days to come.

The map can be viewed on the Garmin site at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/473296946

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday 2nd, to loosen up my legs after the drive down, I took my familiar trip along the cycling track once used by a narrow-gauge railway (see http://www.catalunya.com/vies-verdes-ruta-del-carrilet-ii-girona-sant-feliu-de-guixols-24-1-132)

The map can be viewed on the Garmin site at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/472196657

Very similar to Douce France 1, however this time I’m cycling with Bernard “Big Moustaches” Jeanjean.

There’s is some blue sky and occasionally a bit of sunshine, but in general it’s 11°C with a cooling north-easterly wind. After Sorbey, near Pillon, we had some slight rain, although nothing to worry about.

The route we took can be viewed on the Garmin site at:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/468367941

Detailed itinerary for the circuit is: Mussy-la-Ville (B) – Signeulx – St Remy – Ruette – Grandcourt – Allondrelle/La Malmaison (F) – Villancy – Longuyon – Noërs – Z.I. Kaiser – Sorbey – à la D66 près de Pillon, prendre à gauche dir. Arrancy, prendre chemin agricole (avec un panneau “No Entry, sauf ayants droit” – Rouvrois-sur-Othain, à droite sur D618, puis à gauche avant garage Citroën – Remenoncourt – Arrancy-sur-Crusnes – Beuveille – Fort de Fermont – Fermont (village) – La Roche – Montigny-sur-Chiers – Villers-la-Chèvre (sortie par Chemin du Bois de St Pancré) – Gorcy – Baranzy – Mussy.

Photo: The château at Remenoncourt, near Arrancy-sur-Crusnes, France.

Le beau temps continue et
aujourd’hui mon vélo m’emmène en France.

Les villages/villes visités sont:
Mussy-la-Ville (B) – Baranzy – Gorcy (F) – Villers-la-Chèvre –
Fresnois-la-Montagne – Braumont – Longuyon – Noërs – Z.I. Kaiser – Sorbey – à
la D66 près de Pillon, prendre à gauche dir. Arrancy, prendre chemin agricole
(avec un panneau “No Entry, sauf ayants droits” –
Rouvrois-sur-Othain, à gauche sur D618 – à droite Arrancy-sur-Crusnes –
Beuveille – Fort de Fermont – Fermont (village) – La Roche –
Fresnois-la-Montagne – Tellancourt – Saint-Pancré – Buré-la-Ville – Saint-Rémy
– Signeulx – Mussy.

… et la randonnée
peut être visionnée à :
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/459651563

Photo : Un blockhaus de la Ligne Maginot, entre Noërs et Sorbey.

Photo : Le château à Sorbey.

Photo : À Arrancy-sur-Crusnes je prends la direction de Beuveille.

Photo : Le Fort de Fermont, une partie de la Ligne Maginot, est ouvert aux visites des touristes.

08/03 et 09/03/2014 : Le temps fait magnifique : ciel bleu, plein soleil, de 14 à 17°C ; 10°C au-dessus des températures normales.

Deux sorties ce week-end, samedi en solo et dimanche avec quelques membres du club.

Les itinéraires se trouve sur le site de Garmin à :

Une petite randonnée dans la Gaume profonde —

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/457700717

et

une visite au Grand-duché de Luxembourg —

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/457700395

Des photos de mon circuit de samedi :

Photo : Le cimetière militaire franco-allemand de la Grande Guerre. Un des nombreux cimetières militaires de 1914-1918 dans cette région et aillleurs.

Photo : La Vallée de Rabais, entre Virton et Ethe est très populaire en été avec les touristes flamands et néerlandais.

Photo : Le lac à Rabais est fréquenté par de nombreux pêcheurs.