October 1, 2023
Day 19 - Eurovelo 6 across France
Angers to Ancenis
It's a leisurely ride out of Angers this morning, through well-maintained parklands and wide bike and pedestrian paths. There were a lot of people out walking or running, as well as cycling. We pass waterways that resemble mill ponds – exceptionally smooth, with not a ripple from wind or water flow. In fact, we passed a rowing club that seemed to be the perfect venue for such a sport.
As we do every day, we see a few multi-day touring cyclists. They have full rear panniers, and sometimes front panniers as well. You can easily tell they aren't cycling for just one or two days. This is a fraternity, and a wave or nod is always reciprocated. When travelling on my own last year, I would have stopped, chatted, and swapped stories of our journeys – the route, the destination, and any tips about the road ahead. Travelling in a group makes this more challenging, as you don’t want to hold the team up or have to chase the pack to catch up.
Being a Sunday, we see lots of families out cycling. This is where the French get their love of cycling – they start at such an early age. We travel with small family groups at times. I’m sure the kids are in awe of long-distance travellers going through their towns ... or perhaps that older people can still ride bicycles.
The wind is kind again this morning, although we do find some hills that keep the blood pumping. We stopped at a small-town market to buy some lunch. It can be difficult to find shops open on Sundays.
Suddenly, we found ourselves on the same route as a local triathlon. After being abused by a local official for the second time for riding a bike among running competitors, I tried to convince one official that I was actually a competitor and had finished my running leg, now on to the bike leg. He noted that I had panniers. I was disqualified.
We took a brief detour to Église Notre-Dame de Béhuard and found that we had arrived on the same day as a special mass for the blessing of the local town of Savennières. The mass had to be held outdoors due to its popularity. There were hundreds of people attending, and about the same number of altar boys. We saw a bishop attending, so it must have been an important event.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
After finally disentangling ourselves from the triathlon, Stewart became our rabbit. Each day someone tends to get into the zone, hitting the pedals hard, clocking mid-to-high 20 km per hour, and the rest of us chase them down. Stewart is incredibly bike fit. I died trying to catch him. He's not allowed to be the rabbit again!
We finally stopped for our morning ritual coffee at a restaurant/bar. With only a few days left on the trip, I soak up these moments with the group.
I remain in awe of David and Stewart, whose friendship has endured decades. I hope I’m as fit and adventurous at their ages (73 and 69, respectively). Also, hanging out with older people is a community service!
We pulled in for lunch at L’Île Ragot near a motorhome park. Why anyone would stay here for a holiday is beyond me. The Loire River seems to be in drought here, with large sandbars as the main feature. Someone had even placed beach umbrellas in the sand for people to sit under. Seriously! These people need to visit Bondi Beach in Australia! Motorhome and caravan parks here are generally far below what is offered in Australia. I love many things in France, but camping grounds are not one of them.
A few kilometres down the road, after two uneventful bike maintenance days, my front tyre blew, and I nearly caused a collision with the bikes behind me. Brett, our industrious mechanic, was onto it quickly, supported by Stewart. We made temporary repairs and hoped the tyre would last the remaining two days of riding!
With about 20 km to go to Ancenis, we detoured into Saint-Florent-le-Vieil to see Église Abbatiale Saint-Florent du Mont-Glonne and Notre-Dame du Marillais, both within a kilometre of each other. The Abbey had placed some modern art in front of a sixth-century church … I don’t think it works!
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
By 2:30 pm, the temperature had climbed to 27 degrees Celsius. We rode quickly to reach the hotel. The last few kilometres took us through forest trails and some secondary roads, which provided some protection from the blazing sun.
Finally, we arrived at the hotel, had a beer and a shower (in that order), and headed off for what was possibly our best meal in France (and they’ve all been great!). Restaurant La Table du Pêcheur à Ancenis, take a bow!
Ancenis is a small, quiet town and makes for a nice stopover. Like so many towns in the Loire Valley, they have a healthy tourism industry. Tomorrow, we head to Nantes, 36 km away, on our penultimate riding day.
Au revoir.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 1,120 km (696 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |