Day 12 Gien to Sancerre 60 Klms

The last ride of the trip, a bit nervous to start, such a big trip, didn't want anything to go wrong on the last day. Good riding,more of the same, but warmer and not much wind. And the worst coffee (2 stops) for the whole trip!

A steady ride, trail was well marked, some good bike only paths, but mostly small lanes and gravel levee bank. We crossed the Eiffel bridge (a bridge that carries the canal and its boats across the Loire) at Briare, a bit special. Some delightful along the canal riding – just stunningly beautiful.

We stopped for coffee about 16 kilometers from Sancerre, completely indifferent service, couldn't offer us any food even though we could see baguettes and salad and cheese being set up to serve for lunch.  With out doubt the worst coffee we have had for the whole trip.

Nice ride all the way into Sancerre, not as difficult as I had imagined. Having been to Sancerre a couple of times in the past, I knew it was bit of a climb up to the village. All went well until we followed a Velo sign that took us up a very steep track. D almost made it K & J walked  the bikes up to the hotel. If we had of  stayed on on the road we could have ridden right to our hotels door.

What a great feeling of accomplishment. So long in the planning, so short in the execution, but exceeded all of our expectations by a huge margin. A great achievement given that two of us were below par because of health issues and the the other didn't get the prep. he would have liked because of business commitments prior to leaving Oz.

Great companionship, great riding, good food and wine – and nice to be back with the girls.

When will we be back?

FOOT NOTE         Friday the 14th

K & D Sancerre to Gien.

Rode into Gien to pick up our hire car.

NEXT RIDE SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2012

SANCERRE TO MULHOUSE

Day 11 Orleans to Gien 80 klms

View Day Eight - 72Km's in a larger map

      “a tail wind component all day”

A tail wind to look forward to – hoo-bloody-ray!!! After all of the advice during our long planning phase to expect the prevailing winds to be up river at this time of the year – they finally seemed to have arrived!

I have to say at this time I have taken a small amount of stick from young “D” about the prevailing winds.

D still denies the tail wind we had today, he thought “we were going down hill all day”. It was a great ride!

Breakfast at 6:30, on the road at 7:00 and an easy ride out of Orleans on made and unmade bike paths, probably the warmest start we have had. 20 kilometers up before we knew it. A combination of parkland and old sand quarry's that are now recreational lakes. Lots of boating (man powered) and fishing going on, it was a very enjoyable and beautiful part of the days ride. We  rode close to the river for most of the day.

Today is the first day we have come across anyone moving along at our pace, we had to hold D back as he was anxious to run them down. We had a small detour at this time, D&J navigated our way out of a small village back onto the levee bank of the river. After a couple of kilometers K pointed out that the river was running the wrong way!!! The nuclear power station that we were riding towards looked very similar to the one we rode passed 30 minutes ago! It was a good day, we found a short cut (a bit rough), back to the bike track (going in the right direction) and only did about 4 klms more than we need to.

We had a variety of road surfaces today, mostly provisional bike paths (sign posted but road surfaces not upgraded), smooth asphalted lanes, narrow (450 mm wide) tracks on top of the levee, rough stony track (about 2 klms), smooth well graded gravel and a short burst on a busy N road – the full range in the one day . We all felt great about the days ride, my legs were the best they had been for a few days, felt strong all day.

We arrived in Gien about midday – rooms not available until 2 PM! Did a partial change out of bike gear and headed downtown to find lunch. Having had lunch in Gien 4 years ago at a great brasserie, I knew exactly where to go. Failed to take into account the French holiday period – chef on hols, back in two weeks. We walked past a busy cafe that appealed and settled in. We all had the same fabulous salad and yet another rose'. K in particular liked the rose' and insisted we have another, D as usual put up little resistance! We talked some other punters into the same wine, they didn't drink all theirs so passed the unfinished  bottle to us when they left. PHEW!

An afternoon rest and a walk about town. Gein is a very attractive city right on the Loire and a famous centre of ceramic manufacturing. Aperitif's and an excellent dinner at the hotel. We were ready for the last days ride, hoping the legs will stay strong for another 60 kilometers.

GREAT DAY

Day 10 Orleans Rest day

 Fine and mild TAIL WIND

Not on the bikes today, a bit of bad luck really as there was would have been a nice tail wind!

We were all a bit weary today, our riding has been reasonably solid, 20 – 25 kms per hour depending on the conditions – no one else was really riding at our pace. We have been enjoying the physical side of the riding, even though we are tired at the end of the day. We have been aiming to finish each days riding in time to find somewhere nice for lunch, a rest in the afternoon and sightseeing and a good dinner in the evening. We needed the sustenance after all!

Orleans is a lovely city (much like Montpelier), very pedestrianized and a modern tram network.

We rode the tram from one end to the other, a great way to see the city, we walked the “Parc Floral”.

Had a crap pizza at place close to our hotel, D was up for a good part of the night.

Checked the web for weather and it looks like a tail wind for the next two days – about bloody time!

Day 9 Blois to Orleans

View Day Seven - 67 Km's in a larger map

     Moderate to strong head wind   cool

A quick breakfast at the hotel and on the bikes at 7:30. The legs didn't really want to be on a bike today.

The first two hours were the hardest of the trip, we were riding on the levee bank completely exposed to the wind. A bit easier for me as K & D sat in front, and I tucked in behind them again. Quite a few locals out for a ride today (Sunday), we always got a cheery bonjour and a wave as the overtook or passed us.

Coffee was a problem again today, we managed to buy a pastry in a small village, but coffee was out of the question.

The second half of the ride was a lot better, the legs were feeling stronger and we were riding on paths and lanes sheltered by tall trees. The bike paths today were probably the roughest we had ridden on, but still good enough to get along at a reasonable rate (23 – 25 klms per hour). D caused a bit of a flurry, on a rough section of the path he spotted a couple of rider 500 M ahead of us and as he is won't to do – he put the hammer down and rode flat out for a couple of kilometers with K & J hanging onto his dust. Fortunately for me it came to a sudden end, when an overhanging vine neatly ripped my sun glasses of my face, the glasses survived the fall and a rider behind just missed running over them. As it turned out, we were chasing a very fit young couple who were towing a trailer that carried their camping gear. We were all pleased to make to our hotel in Orleans. I rested up and K&D walked the city to find us a place for dinner – very good it was –  I had veal kidney.

Day 8 Tours to Blois 70 kms

View Day Six - 65 Km's in a larger map

Moderate head wind

An early start again (7 AM), fruit and juice for breakfast bought the night before. The proprietor was concerned that we were going with out having breakfast, so he made us each a coffee and brought them out for us to have while we were organizing our bikes on the footpath – very nice man!

I thought I might have been in trouble with the riding today, stared fair, but improved as the day went on. Stopped in Amboise for coffee and a very delicious quiche, god knows how much cream was in it.

Sent a text to John L, we spent a couple of very enjoyable nights with Jhn and his wife Jen in Amboise a few years ago.

The route took us literally through vineyards today, sealed bike path for several kilometers wandering through the vines. It made a nice change as we were riding up higher (a bit breezy though) than normal and away from the river, we had quite a view looking down the river valley into the distance. We had a bit of trouble with our navigation on one section, missed the bike path sign and rode on down some rough unmade farm roads. It is never really a problem if you stray from the route a bit, the river was over on our left 3 or 4 kilometers away, just keep riding up river and an eventually connect up with the bike trail again. We cut the trail down a bit lower than the vines along an off shoot of the river, tall trees sheltered the path and we rode for several kms out of the wind on unmade bike path.

K & D looked after me again today, pulled the pace and let me tuck in behind them out of the wind – it was much appreciated. All up it was a satisfying and enjoyable ride, although D did go on a bit about the head wind!

Arrived in Blois at 12:30. Unfortunately the hotel didn't have a record of our booking, they only had two rooms left. The boys cheerfully offered me the single room which I gratefully accepted, there was a bit of banter the next day about snoring  - and thank god for single rooms at all of our other overnight stops!

We had a couple of cold beers,  confit of duck Sheppards pie for lunch (an odd combination, but worked very well), washed down with yet another delectable Loire rose'.

A long afternoon rest for me, followed by an average dinner at a restaurant recommended by our hotel, it turned out that it was owned by the hotel! I probably had one beer to many thanks to D.

Day 7 Tours rest day

Tours not much to say it just didn't click for us, even though it is a lovely city. We had a big walk around the city looking for something more than croissant and jam for breakfast, not an omelet to be seen. We caught a bus out to Vouvray for lunch and some wine tasting. Pleasant lunch, the wine tasting was a bit average, we were restricted to the tourist type wine shops on the bus route.We must have walked at least 10 kms for the day. I was stuffed, the body didn't want to cooperate at all. All had a late afternoon rest, we had to wake D for dinner. We went back to the same brasserie, D had left a kangaroo pin for the waiter the night before and he was pleased to see us and pointed out the Ozzies to his boss. I had a quick pizza and D escorted me back to the hotel – the brain was a touch foggy!

Day 6 Samur to Tours 81 kms

12 to 32 degrees      Moderate head wind   6/8/2009

What a day, our biggest ride ever – 7 AM on the bikes, magnificent riding along the bank of the Loire watching the sun come up over the broad expanses of the river. Cool and mild, perfect for riding. The first 2 hours of riding was along the levee bank, then we dived of the river into narrow leafy lanes, just magic in the early morning light. We enjoyed our quiche, fruit and juice at a small village after D combed the place for coffee to no avail. The only problem with early starts, the coffee shops are not open early enough! We cycled on past a continuous parade of lovely chateau and fine buildings made from the local stone on our right and fabulous vistas of the Loire on our left. Many of the houses were built into the cliff face, lots of  bright flower gardens and neatly kept vegetable patches.

At our first coffee stop (a small hotel restaurant) over looking the river we chatted to a couple of older Swiss chaps riding and taking pot luck with their accommodation. They weren't covering a lot of ground, but they were having a very nice time. At our next coffee stop we caught up with a couple who were staying at our hotel in Ingrandes and had coffee with them. They lived in Anger

and were just out for a few days ride.

At Villandry K&D made a short visit to the famous chateau there to look at the fabulous gardens, I had been there a couple of years ago and the body was starting to sag so I cycled on into the next town???? and bought a few nice bits for lunch, including a bottle of local rose' (goats cheese, terrine de lapin, tomatoes and mineral water) and rested up a bit. I always wanted to do the baguette on the back of the bike thing – now ticked of!

With full stomachs and the head wind picking up we set off to cover the last 20 kms to Tours. A bit slower but a good ride, nice ride into Tours, bike path almost to our hotel. K had another brush with traffic, but no tears this time.

My body performed much better than I expected, the long lunch break probably helped.

The usual jobs done and then we hit the town for a couple of beers. We chose a run down brasserie for dinner, nothing special, but we had a good night eating on the street with a chap playing jazz/swing trumpet in the back ground.

D had a luck break, he had hung his washing in the hotel window as he is want to do, we found his bike shorts on the footpath when we returned to the Hotel.