Another nice day’s riding. I aimed to be in a bit earlier
today as I’m getting tired. HA Ha ha ha.
It rained during the night and was looking pretty miserable
when I got up. I ummed and ahhed a bit and eventually decided I’d ride on since
I saw everything there is to see when I was here in 2008. I went to the local boulangerie and bought some bread (like 4 rolls stuck together), my first pain
au raison and a nice tarte and then ate them back in my room. I also bought an
IGN map to see what they are like; I normally only use Michelin maps and can
see that using this one will take some getting used to. The weather seemed to
be improving so I took my time. Then down to pack the bike and pay. Off at
10:05, something of a lateness record I think.
The weather had dried out significantly and I headed east on
the D7 and then south on the D134. The route was lumpy to start with and then
there was a long, long descent. As I was going down a school group, easily 50
students, was slowly coming up the hill (presumably to La P-P). Somewhere on
the way down surprise, surprise, a Col: ‘Col de la Tete du Christ’. The Col
isn’t in my Col’s of France guide but it is a few years old so I’ll have to
check later. Then as I finally dropped down out of the hills the sun came out,
beautiful.
I then followed a mixture of the route I’d planned and bike
route signs along the way. Eventually this popped me on to the ‘Canal de la
Marne au Rhin’, which connects the Marne and Rhine rivers. This was very
pleasant and I ended up following the path for over 20Ks. There were oodles of
holiday boats on the canal and many locks; I was going uphill as usual.
The canal went through the town of Saverne and I was tempted
to stop there and have a rest day, but 24Ks seemed a bit slack even for me.
Instead I stopped at a pretty café and had a small lunch (quiche, éclair and
coke).
Feeling refreshed I continued on along the canal to the end
and then headed south towards the town of Dabo. I didn’t realise but the town
is ‘famous’ for the ruined church at the top of rock spur with the town on the
hill below. Quite nice from a distance, but I forgot to take a photo.
Naturally, being on a hill, there was a long steep climb and I thought it was
raining at one point, but no it was just sweat.
The reason I’d come to Dabo was actually for a Col, but when
I was in town the sign indicated that you had to take a VTT (mountain biking)
track which I decided I didn’t feel like. The road out of town was very
pleasant, rolling hills and quiet. Then out of the blue was a sealed road up to
the Col; how could I resist? Another 2K slog to the top and the first definitive
Col for the day. Not far behind me a lady came up on here bike, electric bike,
and then about 5 minutes later her husband on a carbon fibre racing bike, no
battery. Something to think about Ken!
I had noticed back in town that there was a VTT track
downhill from here to the next Col. I could either use that or go back the way
I’d come and then ride along the sealed road. I was feeling pretty tired so of
course I used the VTT track. It was black route 7, presumably being black is
nothing like the skiing classification... (Tony you’d have hated it, rocks,
mud, sand, rough…). It turned out to be a pretty nice track initially on a
forestry road but the last Km was much rougher and the last 200m was so sandy I
had to push. But then I was back on to the road and my second Col!
From there I had a ripper of a descent with the Rhine Valley
to my left. It was a lovely quiet road that just kept on going down and down.
Cool. Except of course then I had a 20 minute climb back up to the town I was
staying out. Oh well.
Once in town I had a brief look around and then booked 2
nights at the Logis de France. It’s a very nice hotel with charming antique
furniture and long twisty corridors. It’s a bit dearer than I’d normally stay
at but very nice. (I suggested to Ken he should see if he can do some overtime
to pay for it… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
I wasn’t in early but it was only 4:15 so I was able to
watch over an hour of the tour. It’s a flat stage for the sprinters so I was
just enjoying the scenery, 45 Ks to go, 40, 35, 30, 25… 12 oops, fell asleep J Still I saw the finish
with Kittel the clear winner. Then a bit of checking email etc before dinner at
7.
The hotel has a dining room, and a breakfast room, and a
Salon de The, and a bar, and a lounge area, and a terrace. However I don’t
think there are actually that many people here at the moment, maybe on the
weekend.
Dinner was 3 or 4 courses, I cut the cheese course as I’ve
had a lot of lactose lately. The entrée was like Ceviche (Tarte de Dordogne),
very nice and quite tart. Then steak so that I could have a half bottle of red
wine, a Bordeaux this time, and finally a Grand Marnier soufflé cooked in
orange skins. All very nice.
Back to the room to ring Ken, watch some Buffy the Vampire
Slayer (in French) and look at maps. I’d read the Tour guide for the next few
days and realised I could make (1 train trip) it to see the Tour at the Col de
la Galibier. So I’ve booked a room on the Col itself, now all I need to do is
work out how to get there in time.
I started watching a Midsomer in French then gave up and watched the start of one on the laptop in English. Bed after 11.
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