Outrun the Cushite

Introduction I felt like I was heading in the right direction, but with these ancient roads optimized for facilitating farmer’s chores of carrying oranges and apples and baguettes to market with their sleds and wagons pulled by their horses, the likelihood that I missed a turn was pretty high. I knew I just needed to follow the running water of the river until I hit the town called La Condamine and then to take the only right in that town’s single round-a-bout to start the climb up to the Col de Braus. This mountain pass will serve as the first of four climbs in this year’s 20th stage of the Tour de France. I thought it would be cool to go give the route a spin to preview it on the peloton’s behalf a month and a half early.   I pulled my bright orange-red, rented BMC over to a bus stop to look at my map. And little surprise, I had gone straight two roundabouts ago when I should have gone right to cross over the river, then right, then right again, then an immediate left, but not the le