Riding to Eat

Sunday is the big market day in Isle sur la Sorgue, the next town over from Mazan. The Characteristic Provencal Market was, hands down, the biggest street market I've ever visited. It covered blocks and blocks and block of the old central portion of town. Virtually every street in Centre Ville was taken up with vendors selling fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, fish, linens, anything you could think of finding at a street market. We loaded up on cheese and saucisson, wine and baguettes. So, the first order of business for the day was complete: securing the necessary ingredients for a post-ride snack. After all, the whole reason we came to France was to complete some epic rides and enjoy awesome food. Riding to Eat is my mantra this trip.

Saucisson as far as the eye can see in in every imaginable flavor!

After spending a few hours wandering around the market we headed back to Mazan to get on the bikes to earn some of the goodies we just picked up. We quickly changed into our riding clothes hoping to get a few miles in before the rain started.

Ready to ride

It was just starting to spit as we rolled away from Chateau de Mazan. The first thing we noticed is that riding in this part of France (maybe all of Europe?) is much different that the riding we do in the States. The roads are really narrow! Fortunately the cars are driven by much more courteous drivers than in the States. We had ridden about 30 minutes through picturesque vineyards and orchards when the sprinkles turned to a heavy drizzle.  That also when Rob's bike slipped out from under him in a corner. Fortunately, Rob was only a bit scuffed up. But the rear derailleur hanger was bend making his bike unrideable. Once again, Lance performed emergency roadside repair, removing the derailleur, converting Rob's bike into a single speed. Since the rain had picked up, we decided to call off the rest of the ride and return to Mazan. Our hour on the bike today wasn't so epic, but the food we picked up at the market was pretty awesome (you didn't think we were going to let all that fresh meat and cheese go to waste, did you?!). The rest of the week looks great for riding, so we'll be able to justify all the tasty stuff this area has to offer.