And we're off!
Bikes were loaded with way too much stuff but reading through umpteen bikers sites kept increasing the basic needs list. We have 1st aid kit, fluorescent waistcoats, breathalyser kits, tyre inflation foam, tyre inflator, duck tape, cable ties, bike workshop manual, tools, bulbs, kitchen roll, methylated spirit and the list goes on (not yet used the fishing gear).
So we left Wendy on Saturday morning and made our way along the A27 toward Worthing and then A24/A272 to join M23 north. Not too busy and the extra hour we had allowed wasn't needed despite a text from eurotunnel telling me it was one of the busiest days of the year to travel, hadn't catered for school summer holidays starting the day before. The train was delayed an hour but the crossing was fine. I was very glad to have bought a waterproof over-jacket as the rain was fairly constant all the way to Rouen Normandy. We arrived at the apartment around 7pm, fairly knackered and both of us aching with sore bums from the ride. I also acquired an aching hip/thigh which over the next 2 days got worse, ibuprofen and St Bernard deep heat cream slightly helped.
On day two we rode to Deauville on the coast, it was just for a photo with the bikes next to one of the town signs, Deauville's visit Deauville.
By the time we got back I barely hobbled off the bike, leg was now very painful, more ibuprofen. A quick google map search for massage near our hotel in Lyon set me up for a visit on the morning of day 4 while we waited to collect the bikes from Lyon Autotrain depot.
The oriental ladies were not exactly youthful but the leg ache was my priority and the masseuse was very thorough. More ibuprofen and deep heat now made walking bearable.
The bikes survived autotrain with no damage and we set off to Lyon around 12.30 stopping for lunch at a motorway services. Why oh why are UK services stations so crappy? The meal we had was only fish and chips but served beautifully with complementary salad and a pork pate starter with a soft drink for €13.50. The restaurant was full and people genuinely were enjoying their meals.
The rain was again fairly constant with quite heavy downpours, riding at 130kph (give or take 10kph), on superior roads than UK and with much less traffic, was a doddle for the bikes. After our lunch break we encountered an RTA between two artics, looked nasty and may have occurred while we were eating. Just after this we drove through a rather long tunnel and emerged to see the Alps 10miles or so ahead, quite a contrast from the terrain before and the sun shone!
That didn't last too long, rain and wind again for most of the remaining ride, and it was very cold!
The bike websites had mentioned the worse time to ride in the Alps was July/August because of the heat, what were we doing coming at that exact time? Had to be for work and other commitments but with cool weather we might have hit the jackpot. Not quite yet, forecast from Wednesday is 'redders'.
The skiing resort of Lanslevillard where we are staying has a restaurant with the best write-up on google maps so we ventured to eat just after 9pm to find "kitchen is closed" but we could have something from the desert menu. While we looked we had a beer and I chose the cheese board, unfortunately for my son Phil, being lactose intolerant is not helpful when choices are ice cream, creme broulle , or cheese. I asked whether there was some Jambon?, well, a massive plate of salty cured ham appeared for Phil at least 10 slices, we were hungry and he just about got through it using beer to help swallowing. Monty Python did a cheese sketch and my 'runny cheese' would have been apt.
Yesterday we rode to the Intermarche store about 13miles away and it was great to have bike friendly roads, plenty of bends and not much traffic. Both of us made errors with judgment into some corners which became tighter than anticipated on several occasions, but it helped with acclimatisation to a different way of riding. In the afternoon we ventured up a long winding climb to over view Lake du Mont Cenis.
Last night we got to the restaurant at 8pm and found a spare table, the food was great and a bottle of house wine was good too. I had mixed grill or so I thought. The waitress brought a contraption to the table which we pondered over and then surmised it was a barbecue, indeed it was with two massive skewers with chunks of beef and duck. I hadn't realised ducks grew big enough to chop them into chunks!
Phil had a shrimp salad which was also enormous and very tasty. He found a desert he could eat whilst I had a very nice creme broulle.
Leg now OK, massage worked a treat.
All set for adventure.
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