clairedavieswriter

On paper, today looked like a doddle, but our friend from the northeast had other ideas. If I’d thought the last two days were tough, he made clear I had another think coming. There were times when I could barely make headway at all. Even so, I preferred that to a sidewind: on one occasion I came the closest I’ve ever been to being blown right off the road. If you need a visual illustration of the challenge, here it is (no prizes for guessing which way I was riding):

Knowing what I was in for, and given I had less far to go, dilly-dallying in Vendôme seemed an attractive option.
Taking pride of place in the centre of the compact old town is a memorial to a local hero, whose family pile I passed on my way in yesterday. For once I’d done my homework (aka last minute cramming over breakfast) and had learned that Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Marquis of Rochambeau and Maréchal of France, commanded the French army alongside George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The dedication on the side of the plinth notes, without modesty, that his actions ‘ensured the independence of the United States’.

As it happened, the good Marquis was showing me the way, and I couldn’t delay forever, so I left him standing in the sunshine, girded my loins and turned Bernard northeast. When we weren’t battling to stay upright and in motion, there were moments to savour. No day cycling in France would be complete without one of these:

… or these:

I particularly enjoyed this spell beside the Loir (and not only because trees and high ground to the right sheltered us from you know what):

Obviously, Bernard wanted to stop for a photo here:

And after a particularly difficult stretch of riding, I appreciated this river’s positive attitude (clue: don’t read it in French: a Yorkshire accent helps):

Refreshments were hard to come by, but I’m not sure I’d have sampled Végé Junior’s menu, even if the café had been open

But the best bit about today was the half hour of companionship I shared with a Dutch couple who were riding home to Gouda from Rome – the first cyclists I’d seen going in my direction.
Given that they were about 15 years older than me, were carrying four panniers each, and were riding normal bikes, I was pretty humbled when they caught up with me on absolutely the windiest part of the route, bar none. And they didn’t even seem out of breath.
Jan and Gerthe: you’re an inspiration. Thank you for the coffee, and the tips about Flixbus and the fietsknoop app for cycle routes in the Netherlands.
Best of all, you reassured me that my end-to-end project isn’t so crazy. When I passed through this village later, it felt like a sign in more ways than one:

So for the moment I’ll just keep doing what they suggest on this sticker, and to L with the wind.