Exiting alongside the busy town traffic is a bit hairy but soon we are climbing gently up a verdant valley. A tiny hamlet is called "Carol", so we photo Keith by their sign, to send the pic to his twin sis, Carol.
A toothless dog and his ancient toothless mistress come out into the sun to watch.
At a large limestone cave, water rushes out. Two men are precariously standing at the top of the weir, filling labelled bottles with the water for resale! Tom joins them to fill his bottle and manages not to fall in.
The road up to the col becomes tight hairpin bends as it winds past clay tiled villages. Keith, Tom and Jenny storm their way up, whilst the rest if us pootle along at a slower pace. Finally we reach the summit of Col Montsegur at 1059 m, under an impossibly blue sky. There is only a large carpark, no shady seats for weary cyclists, so we whizz down to the next village to eat our sarnies on benches under trees. A stunning quiet road then contours the hillside under a hilltop chateau, through little fields of wild flowers and soon back to Foix, where we join Kirby for a refreshing beer in the square.
Location:Foix
