| Day # |
05 |
State of Legs |
:-) |
|
Distance (miles) |
Distance (km) |
Ascent (feet) |
Ascent (metres) |
Punctures |
| Today |
75 miles |
km |
3291 feet |
metres |
0 |
| Trip Totals |
307 miles |
km |
12803 feet |
metres |
0 |
Travelogue
Today was another cracking day, albeit a rather long and hot one. I left the campsite at Guise at 8:30 after a delicious breakfast of half a jar of jam, that being all that was left from the day before! Happily I was soon in the town of Vernin, after cycling through lovely farmland and had coffee at a bar tabac and then a huge pain au chocolat (cycling food of the gods!) down the road at the boulangerie. That was me all set.
 |
| Coffee |
 |
| Pain au chocolat! |
After that I don't think I saw another shop for about the next 60 miles! I cycled through so much farmland, interspersed with the occasional village, all of which was pretty wonderful. But I did this on a handful of dried cranberries and a single pain au chocolat! And my legs didn't complain once at this shocking ill treatment!
There was some more off-road today but this time it was really good. The first was a five mile or so section of bridle path (Passage de Chevaux in fact!).
The ride continued on road, passing through more picturesque villages.
I had my first mechanical problem! Nothing cataclysmic, thankfully. As I changed up into top gear on a downhill stretch, the chain jumped beyond the smallest cog and got jammed between the cassette and frame, locking the pedals up. I got off, used all my technique (force) and unjammed the chain and got it running around the cassette again. My tools came out and I made a small adjustment to one of the limit screws so that hopefully (assuming I turned the screw the right way!) it won't happen again.
 |
| The red bag contains my tools! |
The ride continued, with the terrain getting quite hilly and eventually I found myself riding by a canal (and at the same time, a river) for a few miles. Very nice. I saw what I believe was a Kingfisher fly past too. An amazing streak of brilliant cobalt blue!
I made a detour to the larger town of Rethel to buy food and factor 50 sunblock! The factor 30 I'd been using is no match for the French sun!
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| This is Rethel where I made a detour to get food and sunblock |
 |
| River to the left, canal to the right |
 |
| 3km to Chuffily! |
My accommodation for the night has once again been provided via
HomeCamper. This time, the venue is the large and lovely back garden to the house on what I can only assume is quite a large farm. I was met by the owner, Christian who made me feel incredibly welcome. He speaks good English, which is as well given how awful my French is (Hey! I'm getting by OK actually!). I've pitched my tent but have been told to come and go in the house as I please. The shower was great and I'm sat typing this blog at a table outside, listening to Goldfinches tweet merrily away.
Food? Yes, I bought food! And this time the entire baguette made it with me to my destination. Dinner was a classic combo of an entire baguette, an entire pack of French blue cheese and (for the protein) a tin of tuna. I was ravenously hungry after what I have to assume was a 4000+ calorie ride but I think I've made up for it now. There are apples for later and for breakfast and biscuits for in-ride tomorrow.
I sat and talked with Christian for a while and after he had his dinner, he offered to drive me around the locale and give me a little tour. Christian has lived in the area all of his life and showed me the surrounding countryside and a very nice lake.
 |
| Christian by the lake |
We talked some more and I learned that Christian is not only a farmer. He's also a great reader of books, a philosopher and best of all.... a cyclist! It was a very pleasant way to finish the day.
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