Thursday, October 8, 2009

Wednesday ride

Wednesday afternoon we decided to take a bike ride, despite cloudy skies and some rain drops. Navigating around this section of France can be confusing. The first couple days I had no idea of where we were, gradually I picked up some reference points, mind you I have always lived close to the ocean and near mountains which help define directions. Here in France under cloudy skies east, west, north, south can be a mystery. We began the ride with a good map and questionable reading skills. Fortunately most intersections are marked with directions to towns. That is only helpful if you recognize the name of the town and small towns are plentiful. This area has plenty of primary and secondary roads, the trick is to stay away from the primary roads. Traffic is lighter on the secondary roads but they do drive fast and rarely slow down when they see a cyclist.

Fortunately the ride was uneventful and the raindrops disappeared. We took a long downhill ride from Meyrals by cornfields, pastures and woodlands to Les Eyzies then along the river to Campagne. Next came a long climb followed by a downhill into St. Cyprien, this town has become one of my reference points. A stop at the store provided a few more items for dinner and further loaded down our heavy rental bikes. The last leg was flat ride by a large chateau and then we turned to our village le Colombier. This is a nasty little uphill and one we will avoid in the future electing to take a longer and higher climb that is more gradual. It was an afternoon well spent with three hours of riding.

1 comment:

Brittany said...

And how did Mom do on that nasty little uphill? Hmmm???