Knight rider ... Susan Greenwood follows the route of the Knights Templar near St Eulalie de Cernon (right) in southern France. Photographs: Susan Greenwood
Our former green Netjetter Susan Greenwood just can't stop cycling. This week she's been pedalling through Aveyron, host of this weekend's Course du Templier running race along a route forged by the medieval Knights Templar
I was tucking into a raspberry crêpe when I noticed I was being watched by a yellowing human skull. Clearly the waitress was having a bad day. A swig of local cider later and the whole cave-like Creperie Montes was awash with the remains of the long-departed. If the Knights Templar built La Couvertoirade with the intention of protecting the inhabitants, there were obviously a few who slipped through the benevolent net.
But whatever horrible ending the local ghosts may have suffered, may the knights be blessed for leaving behind them a deliciously mystical cycle route which will send you wheeling back 900 years. Forget pootles through Provence or thigh-crushing cracks at the Tour d'Etape, the southern French department of Aveyron is the place to come if you fancy upping your fitness level without completely busting a gut.
Armed with a rather basic knowledge of the Knights Templar ("something to do with Da Vinci?") and incredibly charismatic cockney French ("horse doovers, Rodney, horse doovers" ) we gallantly set off on the Circuit du Larzac Templier et Hospitalier: a path well trodden by chargers' hooves in the 13th century but, as yet, relatively untouched by modern-day cycle tyres.
From our base in the charmingly crumbling town of Nant, we were looking at around 90km. The route takes in five fortified sites, three massive hills, two French nutters and a lot of Nutella. But the beauty of riding out of season means the roads are free of traffic, the tourists are absent from the tiny citadels and the landscape is raw in its ancient scope.
What's not to love? Just the small matter of around 3,600 runners warming up for this weekend's Course du Templier, a 65km race up and down the mountains which draws people from as far afield as the US. And it's a brave American who shows his face in France these days. If there's something guaranteed to make you feel inadequate, it's the inability to breathe while a man in skin-tight pink lycra yells "howdy" at you from the saddle of a speeding bike.
"Zay drink a lut of beer," says Patrick the owner of Bar du Claux at the epicentre of the 13-year-old race. "Eet helps wiz zee cramps." Interesting. I suddenly develop a painful cramp in my left leg.
The race is for runners but because the hills are so steep on the way down, most of the competitors train on bikes, building up their thigh muscles. To give you some idea of the terrain, it's worth mentioning that last year one leg of the Tour de France came through nearby St Rome de Cernon. Oh, and anyone with a lactose intolerance should steer clear - the smell of Roquefort cheese from the factories is really quite pungent.
It's a bit of a cliché, isn't it, that delightful picture of a dinky little French town nestled in a sweeping valley but it appears that the Knights Templar turned it into an art form. St Eulalie de Cernon is a great place to stop for a café au lait, complete with gurgling water fountain and rock formations in the surrounding valley harking back to the hanging gardens of Babylon. If only they'd had day-glo lycra in those days there would be nothing whatsoever to destroy the illusion of antiquity.
And, you get to improve your knowledge, innit, Rodders. Did you know, for example, that:
(1) The Knights Templar took control of the Larzac Plateau in the 12th century.
(2) When the order was dissolved in 1312 by the Pope, the burgs were taken over by the Hospitaliers and fortified.
(3) If a French butcher asks you if you want extra sausage, you should be very, very careful how you reply.
