Arthurs Seat; on another day! |
What a beautiful and sunny day it was
up on Arthurs Seat this afternoon. It was somewhat spoiled however, by the
number of petrol heads trying to imitate their VA Supercar heroes who’ll be
driving at Bathurst early next month. By comparison, there were the majority of
drivers who didn’t mind slowing down for a few seconds while cyclists and
61-year-olds like me, pedalled slowly around a hairpin bend.
It reminded me of one particular day
in France when I began my journey through the Alps. It was my final climb of
the day, up the Col de Turini.
Besides hot Sunday afternoons, where imbibing
drivers forget they have a vehicle to return to, the only time I
feel a little anxious at home on Arthurs Seat is the time between Boxing Day
and the first two weeks of January. That’s when many aspiring Formula 1 drivers
come roaring up and down the mountain as though competing for pole position in
the Melbourne Grand Prix. It’s mayhem.
The Hotel les Chamois at the summit. |
Gone in 60 seconds, the cars were soon nothing more than a bad memory. I was again riding along a tranquil road. The lacets had disappeared, and with them the
severity of the gradient. Soon I was standing outside our evening’s
accommodation at the Hotel les Chamois, right at the
very summit of the Col de Turini. Like the genie out of the bottle it literally
appeared out of thin air. Roz was nowhere
to be found; she was temporarily lost and with diminishing fuel supplies,
somewhere along the road between Sospel and L’Escarène. Unable to offer any more than my token concern
over the phone, all I could do was wait—and indulge myself in a few French
beers—until she eventually arrived.
Books by Mark
Krieger:
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
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