Day One - Lâcher les Chevaux
Lâcher les chevaux. This is how Philippe Humoz, current organiser of the Tour de France Randonneur on behalf of US Métro Cyclo, ended the last of the emails that we exchanged before I started my Tour of France. My horses were indeed ready to get released. We had spoken about my intention to target a completion within 13 days and, although I was at first hesitant to express my ambitions with uncertainty about how this would be received, he was supportive. Perhaps as much by the spirit in which I was intending to embark on his event. That of a Randonneur, harking back to the Touriste Routiers in early editions of the Tour de France who were not professionals or part of teams and had to support themselves as they made their way around the country alongside the pampered pros. The rules do not explicitly forbid external support, aside from outlawing support vehicles, but I suspect that such an approach is rare and not the experience that most seek from this event.
Peaking
There are some rides for which I have experienced anxiety beforehand. I won't pretend that I was totally zen in the week leading up to 15 June 2025. I did however have the impression of being in control. I had been saying for some time that after months of preparation, training and deliberating that riding this thing would be the ‘easy’ part. Especially when talking with people about what I was just about to do, I was excited. The not so super Super Randonnée de Haute Provence was not forgotten, although neither was it a preoccupation. With an equally sweltering start to my Tour a likelihood, I gave additional consideration to my hot weather protocol which included both actions I needed to take and practicalities such as additional water carrying capacity (a collapsible flask strapped to my seatpost) or ensuring my nutrition was of the variety that could be easily consumed and stomached in the conditions.
One thing I believe I nailed particularly well in the week before starting was my sleep. There is no such thing as training sleep deprivation but there is good evidence for banking sleep in the period immediately prior to anticipating sub-optimal shuteye. The deposits that I made in the sleep bank were substantial and resulted in me feeling as good as I can ever recall. Peaking is all about balancing fitness with freshness. Both were coming together at just the right moment. It’s almost as if I had planned for it to be that way…
Another factor which played into my zen-like sensations was having the privilege to start my route less than 2km from my front door. Manosque is a control point on the Tour de France Randonneur (a variante CP to be precise) so my start/finish location was a no-brainer. This allowed me to have complete control over the final days before starting and to treat them as much as possible just as I would for any other (quite long) ride and not have to factor in travel time or stress.
Here is what was on my mind the day before starting…
The Petit Départ
I was due to start at 08:00 on Sunday 15 June 2025. The time was in part to accommodate the president of my local cycling club, ASPTT Manosque, and possibly some others to meet me at the town square where I would be starting from. I learned though that getting a French person out of bed on a Sunday morning isn’t an evident task. I wasn’t expecting, or intending for, a fanfare on departure so when it turned out that the square was devoid of familiar faces I wasn’t too devastated. Apart from those following my dot online (and those spotting my plaque de cadre), I’d largely be traversing the country in an anonymous, albeit eccentric, manner for the next couple of weeks. I was only slightly irked by not having started earlier to take advantage of more of the daylight hours before the heat rose.
No chocolatine, no gain
A few days before leaving, Michal Serafin had posed me a series of x or y questions for the benefit of the commentary team. For completeness, here are my full set of answers:
One of these questions was ‘pain au chocolat or chocolatine, or no pain’.
“If there's other options, I'll get neither because I've got a thing with pain au chocolates or chocolatines. With my connoisseur status in viennoiserie, there's something about the shape which I don't like. It's just boring. Unlike a croissant which catches and you get the crispy bits and you can peel it apart. But a pain au chocolat, it's just a bit like a sandwich with bits of chocolate inside. And they, I think they say it's like a kid's thing here. So usually, no, pain au chocolat. Unless, there's no other option.”
Despite this, or maybe because of this, Day One turned out to have a pain au chocolatine theme.
First up, whilst climbing out of Manosque I came across a half-eaten viennoiserie in the middle of the road. Putting aside what a terrible waste this is, I was slightly relieved to note that this was only a pain au chocolat. Then, at my first two controls of the day, Sault and Uzés, when opting for boulangeries to acquire my stamp I chose fancy pain au chocolats for my sustenance. Here I leave a caveat in my badmouthing of this item - in its plain form they rarely interest me, but when stuffed with almonds, or raspberry jam as in Uzés, I can be tempted.
Sweet Sault
I knew the route to Sault, the first CP which is probably best known for being the base of the ‘easy’ ascent of Mont Ventoux. No road in the first 58km was new to me. Of course it felt a little different this time, and I rode in a conservative manner befitting the occasion, but the journey didn’t really feel like it got going until I had my first wet stamp and had crossed the metaphorical threshold of no return.
At Sault I acquired this first stamp (or tampon) for my carnet de route at a boulangerie and sent a brief message to the commentary team:
[15/06/2025, 10:33:04] Samuel: Sault. Great conditions - lots of clouds. Optimistic to make good progress. Will check in properly at Uzes. Croissant count has started!
Whilst making this brief pause, a senior gentleman must have clocked my plaque de cadre and approached me, asking if I was doing a Tour of France. I was quite hesitant in my response given that I had only started a couple of hours earlier, although I was still happy to pronounce that I was on a 4,800km mission around the country.
Beyond Sault, it felt as if that threshold was crossed as I munched through my pain au chocolat aux amandes and weaved my way through the Gorges de Nesque, gradually descending 700 metres to the Rhône valley. Some of the roads that followed were familiar, but the circumstances now unique. I was blessed with almost ideal conditions. The sun was shielded by a thin layer of clouds throughout the morning, keeping temperatures in check.
Crossing the Rhône Rubicon
As I traversed the valley I could feel, and see, that progress was relatively rapid. I was conscious not to totally unleash the horses on the first day, but equally there was benefit in taking advantage of the fresh legs which are going to become irreversibly fatigued over the coming days. Crossing the Rhône river included departing my home region of PACA and entering Occitanie. Chocolatine country. The terrain gradually turned more rolling, in contrast to the plains of the eastern side of the valley. I wouldn’t quite be hitting true Massif Central, rather skirting the southern extremity of the Cévennes. Apart from crossing paths with an unidentified Total Energies professional (or a very keen fan), the stretch to Uzés, my second CP, was notably unremarkable.
The pause at Uzés was relatively brief, but not rushed. A boulangerie which also sold ice creams ticked both of my craving boxes at that moment. I devoured a pain au chocolat uzé-ing with raspberry jam and whilst scooping out the ice cream recorded a short voice note:
The overcast conditions had persisted. It was indeed hot, albeit the muggy sort. Leaving Uzés I experienced the briefest of showers. This was refreshing and fortunately not heavy enough to sit on the road and mess up my new freshly-waxed chain. After the rain came the sun though, which complicated things. The warmest part of the day coincided with one of the more remote sections. I was chugging down water, which needed replacing. With village fountains not so evident and signs of life in rural areas rare on a Sunday afternoon I resorted to filling my bottles in a public toilet. From the sink, I’d like to clarify.
Bar des Touristes (Routiers)
Saint-Martin-de-Londres, the next CP, came at just the right moment. The terrain wasn’t particularly challenging in itself but in the afternoon heat anything resembling a hill felt like its gradient was doubled. Eating was becoming more challenging as my body’s resources diverted themselves to heat management. I had brought one item of sports nutrition with me from the start - a very strongly diluted carbohydrate mix in one of my bottles. The rest was ‘real’ food. I’ll come to why later. The ‘why’ for the carb mix was for this precise moment. I anticipated that the heat could have this effect, so ingesting calories via liquid form helped to keep the engine stoked.
At Saint-Martin-de-Londres I sought out the appropriately named Bar des Touristes to acquire my tampon along with two Cornettos, two Calippos and an Orangina. At this very moment the big screen in the bar was showing little Lenny Martinez crossing the line to win the final stage of the Critérium de Dauphiné. I had been following the race at home with interest, but at this moment I couldn’t really give two figs about that race. I was already disconnected from the ‘real’ world and absorbed in my own personal mission which would occupy my world for the next two weeks.
[15/06/2025, 17:12:22] Samuel: It got hot.
[15/06/2025, 17:12:52] Samuel: Coping though. Clouded over again so hopefully through the worst. Big resupply in 35km at Clermont for the night.
[15/06/2025, 17:13:13] Samuel: Fast progress though - 29kph avg.
[15/06/2025, 17:13:21] Samuel: That won’t last 😅
Planning vs Preparation
For rides of this nature, plans are of minimal use and soon become totally irrelevant once one receives a punch in the metaphorical face. It is here that I like to define my perception of the difference between creating a plan and being prepared. If a plan can’t be adapted to changes in circumstances it is no use any longer. Being prepared allows one to make informed decisions as circumstances evolve. This is by no means ‘winging it. Projections can be made, scenarios can be envisaged, but action cannot be taken until the moment. Having access to, or knowing how to acquire the information needed to take the best course of action comes through preparation. Again, CueMeUp was vital in being my first port of call for the necessary information in the moment.
Day One was a fine example of adapting to evolving circumstances and expectations. I had devised a schedule from which I could project my likely location for the first ~48 hours/800km based on a range of overall moving speed. The problem was, I was slightly conservative in my estimations. Arriving at Saint-Martin-de-Londres after 242km my moving speed was 29kph. My projections maxed out at 24kph. This was of course a positive thing, especially as I hadn’t cooked myself to reach this point. It felt that way at the time and it was the case in retrospect. I was employing those first day fresh legs to an extent, without over-doing it.
The Dimanche Desert
With it being a Sunday, I was conscious that when going into the evening resupply options become thinner on the ground. I had deliberately opted for a Sunday as my start date as it allowed for more certainty in planning for resupply on the day of the week when, as some will have it, the French don’t leave their homes and the whole country becomes a food desert. In reality it’s none of the sort as, especially in more populated places, you will often find bars, boulangeries and the odd épicerie with their doors open. That’s without mentioning the recent proliferation of vending machines (more on these later) and restaurants/takeaways, although these are establishments that rarely feature for me on rides of this nature when the clock is ticking and I want to retain control of my time. Nevertheless, starting on a Sunday meant that, all being well, I would only have one other Sunday to tackle if I were to complete in less than 13 days, relieving some of the logistical uncertainty.
I set off carrying a lot of food but had still identified a couple of épiceries that claimed to be open until the early hours and could have served as handy resupply options for the night. But what was the plan for the night? The plan of course was to be prepared for the evolving circumstances. I was carrying no specific sleeping kit beyond an emergency blanket, a considered tactical decision. Every night thereafter I would be sleeping indoors - prioritising quality of sleep, hygiene and overall sustainability. I had practiced this strategy and considered that for me, on this route, it was the best call. For this first night however, I left myself open to the possibility, if not likelihood, of omitting indoor accommodation and getting by on a short ‘nap’ of a couple of hours in a suitable spot. Maybe that would be a cosy toilet block, such as the one I enjoyed a few weeks earlier.
In the meantime, my better-than-expected progress had opened up the tantalising prospect of arriving at Clermont-l'Hérault before the Carrefour closed at 20:00, promising a reliable and substantial resupply option before night fell.
The Long Game
I duly arrived at Clermont-l'Hérault by 18:30 and duly ate too much in one go. My appetite had clearly returned, which is never a bad thing. The wind was now whipping up from the west, at times proving a hindrance to my progress as I would be heading in a south westerly direction until the next CP at Saint-Chinian.
[15/06/2025, 19:00:05] Samuel: Bit too busy eating in Clermont to talk. Quite a big crosswind now, slightly annoying. Should be better when I turn south & may stop by a late light epicerie in Narbonne. Quite difficult to eat in the heat, but have just stuffed down a lot. Should be better now it cools down.
I took the best part of half an hour shopping, eating and loading my bags with supplies - enough for the next stretch. I also made a decision over how long that stretch would be. I would play the long game. Beyond Saint-Chinian I was to turn due south and dissect Narbonne. I checked accommodation options and noted a couple of budget hotels on the south side of the city. The promise of a shower and quality sleep in a comfortable bed eased my mind and took any pressure off trying to find a decent spot to sleep in the wild. I didn’t book anything at that moment, but my mind was fairly set. I was making good progress and prioritising quality sleep took precedence.
Spend Time to Make Time
The stretch to Saint-Chinian followed many roads I was familiar with from earlier in the year during a trip with Nico and Fred. This familiarity with many of the regions I would be passing through both aided with route planning and knowledge of the optimal resupply (boulangerie) options. For instance, from Saint-Chinian to the next CP at Rivesaltes I took the more direct route through Narbonne rather than the lumpier and finickity route further inland. Although the road wasn’t the most pleasant or scenic, I would be traversing it during the night when traffic was less of an issue and progress mostly unhindered. Traversing a city the size of Narbonne offers both sides of the coin though. Hit it at the wrong time of the day and you will spend a long time weaving through traffic or sitting at lights. On the other hand, there was the potential of hitting late night resupply and practical accommodation options.
Once I had my stamp acquired from a pizzeria in Saint-Chinian I set sail, now with a slightly helpful cross-tailwind, to the south side of Narbonne where the Hotel Kyriad awaited. Keen to optimise my time on arrival and get to sleep as soon as possible, I fed well as I traversed the urban sprawl and considered how much time I would be spending in the land of nod. Check in went smoothly and the shower was most welcome. Having made such good progress during the day meant that I had no doubts in my mind that prioritising quality sleep this first night and not getting carried away was the best move. Spending time to make time.
There was just one more task before nodding off, which was what would hereon become a daily routine - recording the end-of-day voice note whilst lying in bed:
[15/06/2025, 23:49:51] M Serafin: It feels like a proper treat. Shower does miracles and you are in for a longer ride. Well done on your progress, Sam. Look out for fruit stands along your route.
[15/06/2025, 23:49:55] M Serafin: Sleep well
15 June 2025
CPs: Sault, Uzés, Saint-Martin-de-Londres, Saint-Chinian
377 km / 3,539 m
13:29:42 / 14:52:15
DotWatcher Commentary: Day 1: Part 1 / Closing our Day 1
