The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Romans Lavender Tandem Tour of Provence and Luberon

June 3rd to June 18th

Ride Director: Smith Doss
Ride Co-Director: Claude Monnier
Report by: Charles Carlson

This tour was unlike any of the eleven BAC tours we’ve ridden.  1. Only three hotels for a 14-day event.  2. Only 14 days of riding but over 24 routes to ride.  3. Only 13 bikes for 26 riders.  Yes, this was my stoker’s and my first BAC Tandem-only tour, and possibly the first-ever BAC tandem tour.  It was also our first tour in Provence, which means it was spectacular on many levels. To fully understand why this tour was so remarkable, you must meet Claude Monnier and Smith Doss.  Here they are on their tandem, Claude in back and in charge and Smith up front pretending that hills are work for them. They sail up them. 

Claude and Smith masterfully planned and led our tour, aptly named “Romans Lavender Tandem Tour of Provence and Luberon.” Working back-to-front in that title: The Luberon comprises three mountain ranges, rising to a max of 1256 meters that provide challenging, thrilling, beautiful cycling; Provence is the French evolution of the Latin “Provincia” as the Romans called their first land conquered north of the Alps, ca. 100 BCE; Lavender is a beautiful, fragrant crop grown nearly everywhere you point your nose in Provence; the Romans left indelible marks on this region, building aqueducts, cathedrals, amphitheaters, monasteries and villas.   

Time-wise, we were three nights in charming Cavaillon, five nights in historic Arles and seven nights in Apt, the principal town of the Luberon mountains.  Gustatorily we were in over our heads.  Our group’s unanimous choice for best dinner was an evening in Cavaillon where we often wondered, simultaneously, what we were eating and how could it be so fabulously delicious. Our group refused to leave the restaurant that evening until our chef appeared to receive our standing ovation.  

If you’ve been paying attention, you realized that I skipped describing a word in the title of our tour and it’s the most wonderful word in that title: Tandem. There is a joke about the effect that tandems have on couples — Wherever your relationship is headed, a tandem will get it there faster. Ha! In our group that added a positive bump to the camaraderie we shared from start to finish. Thank you to the other 12 teams for a healthy dose of happy.  And to Claude and Smith, Merci! for being our leading tandem team and guides to the wonders of Provence!