COCO Day
I think last night was a low point. Actually, it was a low point. Kate is covered in mosi bites. They seem to go for her (which is great for me...) It was a hilly ride and we knew we had a very demanding day, today.
We went down to another stately banqueting hall for our breakfast. More splendid wardrobes, of course. Breakfast was just what we wanted and we were joined by a young Dutch couple, which meant that all conversation was carried out in impeccable English, as it always is with the Dutch. They are off to Spain in their car, which they will manage today. It took us four days to get here from Spain.
We loaded up, paid the €7 which madame charged for the two coffees yesterday and left. We are learning, through our assorted and many overnight stays that hosts fall into two camps. Those who run it very much as a business and those who make it clear that they are concerned that their guests are at ease and made to feel welcome.
We embarked on today's ride with some trepidation and the first few miles weren't only up, they took us to the top of a high ridge and put us on a gravel path. Never great for a tandem. We tired of this quickly and I decided to throw caution to the wind and rebel. No longer would I meekly await the commands of my sat nav and follow unquestioningly her decisions, meted out so imperiously. When the order came to take another gravel path, I looked at the screen and we set off down a nearby parallel road. This worked well until I tried to rejoin the planned route. The sat nav then punished my recklessness by making us add a couple of miles on to our journey. Not something we wanted to do, today. As the day wore on, I got better at going off route and there were a few times when we opted for bigger roads instead. When bigger roads mean excellent tarmac and one car every few minutes it's a no brainer.
The first stop was at Thiviers, a town which must have been 1,000 feet up. It was perched on top of the hill and perched with it, was a Lidl. We sat under a canopy at a café in a charming street in the centre and the rain started. The weather app had prophesied this so it was no surprise. It was time to put on our capes again. We were high up. The wind was fierce. The only way from Thiviers was down. We hurtled down in our capes and must have looked like we had raised a couple of spinnakers. Orange material flailed and flapped as we made our downward progress. The rain stopped. Cape off. It started again. Cape on (not the big chicken...) So it went for a while. Hence an expression common among more 'mature' cyclists, COCO day. (Cape on, Cape off)
Before long it was definitely cape on and very heavy rain. We climbed two horrible hills that just went on forever. These were difficult moments for us to work out why we were doing this. After the second horrible hill, we arrived at a fork with both directions promising Nontron. One was the low town, the other the high town. I won't trifle with your intelligence by telling you which one we plumped for. We should have known better. There was nothing in the low town whatsoever. So we had to take the punishment of cycling steep zig zags straight up to the high town. When we arrived, we dumped the bike, walked straight into a roadside café, dripped to the middle table of a small but busy establishment, removed our capes and hung them over the backs of our chairs and ordered two plat du jours. We didn't even really find out what the plats of the jour were. We didn't care. As it happens, they were delicious. I completed a three course version for the equivalent of about £14!
Food was then bought at a super U for this evening and we set off for the final 16 miles of another 60 miler.
Whilst we were in the restaurant, the rain was hammering down. Just as we stepped out, out came the sun. We set off in welcome warmth but the weather had another trick up its sleeve. Wind. The strongest wind so far. Up to now, the wind has been our friend. Now it was a ferocious head wind all the way to our current stop, the little village of Marthon. We are staying in a delightfully renovated old house, costing about a third of yesterday's place with a coffee machine producing unlimited coffee.
We are glad and relieved that we have managed to complete this day. Tomorrow is nearly as challenging after which the days get easier and mostly shorter.
It should also be easier to write a blog where I can avoid going on about hard stuff and stick to the light and fluffy. You all know that I am very much light and fluffy by nature.
Well done, you really are an impressive pair 👏 So, why are you doing this? Loads of love and encouragement x
ReplyDeleteGood move, Super U is your parents' store of choice. But now Ron wants to know how do you communicate when you're on the bike! Perhaps Kate can hear you, but being at the rear, Kate may have lost her voice trying to communicate with you! Keep on pedaling along. x
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