Mostly Bikes ⨯ Me

Race the wind north

2026-04-01

The mistral is nothing if not predictable. It arrives from the north, on time, every time. The forecast had a brief lull in the wind this morning, and I had a plan: Ride north, catch the tailwind when it whips up in a couple hours. I didn't hit the wall of wind until Nyons where I stopped briefly to acquire a sack of the city’s famous olives. Soon after, I turned south, climbing through the alpine-esque valley below the sleepy village of Montauleiu and onto the gravel forest road that connects Col du Lantons to Col du Voté. By the time I cleared the trees the air was warm and the wind was at my back

Montpellier

2026-03-27

Mistral wind is blowing something g wicked this week. Grabbed the Bromptons and caught the train to Montpellier for some city time. It’s a hilly place, but Montpellier is doing the cargo bike thing.

Normandy 300k. Entre Seine & Eure

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.

Preview image for Normandy 300k. Entre Seine & Eure

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.