We had a 'hearty' breakfast at the hotel this morning. I'm still getting used to 'cold' breakfasts in France ... e.g., cold pancakes! Seriously! Filling nonetheless.
When we loaded the bikes, all the tires were inflated which was a good start to the day, so we left by 8:00am. We had an 85 km ride to Orleans to meet up with our 5th rider, and David's best friend, Stewart.
There was very little traffic on the road, and after 2 days of rain, we were looking forward to some sunshine. You suddenly can feel the temperatures dropping as the seasons change. However, David noted another kick-up in temperature early next week. We rode through the back streets of Gien, an impressive town especially given its small size. We eventually find the EV6 cycleways, which are again up on levees riding beside the river and, with the crispness of the early morning air, it's just a beautiful time to ride.
A few kilometres out of town we saw a couple of nuclear power station cooling towers looking eerily similar to the ones we saw yesterday we saw yesterday. I quickly convinced the guys that I'd messed up the navigation and that we were heading the wrong way, and back to where we came from yesterday. If looks could kill! For more than a few seconds, they believed me. They were talking to me again by mid-afternoon.
The route swings away from the river and goes through the towns of Saint-Gondon and Saint-Florent. Several people had decorated bicycles to welcome Velo enthusiasts ... a nice touch, however, we think the only reason for the detour was to bypass the nuclear site. After yesterday's green water joke, they are keeping us well away.
Brett has more tube issues so we pull over to change yet another tube. All around we can hear gunfire. So I don't know if we're in the middle of a rifle range, or it's duck hunting season in France ... we're just hoping not to be targets!
We continued our ride for another hour on a sunny yet cool day and had lunch in Saint Benoit-sur-Loire. I bought fruit from a supermarket and went to the nearby Fleury Abbey to eat. This is where I met Raphael from Turin. I thought Raphael was a fellow tour cyclist as I saw bags beside him and what I thought was a bike trailer (it turned out to be a wheelbarrow-like trolley). Raphael wasn't a tourer but rather a homeless guy who'd taken up residence in town. The soft drink I thought he was holding was a beer (it was around noon), and he'd been drinking for some time. I spent about 5 minutes talking to him, and although I admit that initially I just wanted to get away, I listened and conversed about places that Raphael recommended I should visit while cycling. When I was finally back on the bike and pedalling away, I realised that few people probably engaged with Raphael willingly, and he did seem to enjoy the brief interaction. I felt disappointed in myself for not spending some more time with him.
The dreaded crosswinds and headwinds arrived after lunch, making our last few hours of riding today not that enjoyable. I had yet another tube failure, this time a split occurring in the tyre. Brett did a great job, with the help of duct tape, to patch the tyre to live another day ... hopefully. We'll make a stop at Decathlon tomorrow for more tube and tyre supplies.
Broncos also made it to the Grand Final Fulton. Just saying . . . . . .
ReplyDeleteBut will they win mate?
DeleteNothing surer!
ReplyDelete