5. Montpellier - St Chinian

Friday 31 May 2013

100 km

Elevation gain 985 m

Riding Time 4 h 12 mins

Average speed 23.8 km/h







Another day riding into a gale force wind :-) Getting used to it now !! When the wind was head on and I was riding uphill, sometimes my GPS thought that I had stopped !! Even worse was the crosswind - had to remain alert to avoid being blown across the road into fast moving traffic. At least it stayed dry again.

With Consul M.Loustau

I set off late today (about 1pm) because an official start to the stage had been arranged in Montpellier thanks to Monaco Consul Mr Loustau (who earlier gave me a guided tour of Montpellier's long standing links with Monaco). In fact today was the first day of a large medical event in the town centre called la "Comédie de la Santé" with over 90 stands, and the opening of the event was performed by Montpellier's mayor Mme Mandroux (who was very much in the news this week since she presided over France's first homosexual wedding). As part of the opening ceremony Mme Mandroux agreed to give an official start to my fifth stage from Montpellier to St Chinian.

Cutting the ribbon with Mme Mandroux

The stage itself took me past the Etang de Thau which is the main oyster farming site in the area, and there was a short climb at the end before dropping down towards St Chinian, where I tasted a very nice glass of red wine with my customary pasta meal.

A small glass of red - honestly - it's the camera angle that makes it look big !