The village is dark, and still warm, when we lock the shutters at quarter to six. Caromb turns out the lights at night, but they flick on before we exit towards Aubignan. The air temperature drops as we descend into the vineyards in the direction of Orange, where we’ll catch the train. We’re headed north to ride Audax Club Parisian’s Paris-Bellgarde 583km permanent randonee. The trace is part of ACP’s “Flèches de France”, a series of timed routes radiating from Paris to the edges of France, like spokes in a wheel. The prescribed pace is similar to that of an SR600. We have train tickets from Bellgarde 59 hours on from our planned Paris departure: 5am tomorrow morning.
