Too hot to ride

June 20, 2018

I worked on the journal early this morning trying to stay current with it, and that may have been a mistake. On the other hand, by the time I got going it was only 9:30 and the temperature was already 26. The plan was to take a train out of Limoges to avoid the mess of city traffic and begin riding from there. I got the 10:01 to St.Leonard de Noblat and descending at the station I saw that right away I would be climbing. No problem, it wasn't far to the top. Getting there I was completely soaked with sweat, and I knew then that this was not going to be a good day to ride. I stopped in the preserved district of St.Leonard for a Perrier which was a welcomed relief. The town I saw was quite pretty and it has an eleventh century church that is very well preserved. I looked around its cool, dark interior while weighing my options. In the end, I decided on a return to Limoges by train and to continue northward as far as possible. Which is why I am writing this in Vierzon. Tomorrow I will catch a train for Dijon and ride the short distance home. The forecast is for more heat, so I might as well be home than in a hotel or worse. The rest of the touring I wanted to do will just have to wait.

Old railway equipment as garden decorations in St. Leonard

It would take more of this than I could reasonably consume to cycle today.

Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 895 km (556 miles)

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Kathleen JonesSorry your tour ended due to the heat, but once again I enjoyed following along on your sojourn through the French countryside. Hope you get out again sometime while the weather is non-freezing. Also, I was reading Susan Carpenter's tour too and thinking, hey isn't Keith in the neighborhood? Too bad we didn't have crossover journal entries for that.
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5 years ago

Keith KleinTo Kathleen JonesHi Kathleen,
I missed Susan by one day. So almost, but not quite. The funny thing is that the heat didn't last as long as predicted, but still I'm not sad to be home. There were a few things I had to do here, and I will get back on the road as time permits.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Keith
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5 years ago

Emily SharpHi Keith - I've really enjoyed your journal. The Roman history really fascinates me and I'd love to link a bunch of those sites together one day. I am glad you recovered from the heat enough to continue. I had a very scary experience with heat exhaustion, and gave my husband a huge fright, in 2003. I was lucky not to have cooked some organs that day. It has made me super-aware of staying cool and taking precautions ever since. So I can totally empathise with your experience. I look forward to following more of your meandering in journals to come :-) All the best.
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5 years ago

Keith KleinTo Emily SharpHi Em,
Thankfully France is not Australia with your heat, so I expect that most of the time I will be less prone to difficulty than you. That said, EVERYBODY should be aware of the effects of heat stroke. I should have known better, and I will be more vigilant from now on. If I had been wiser, I would have remembered that high temperature need to be taken seriously. You know what "they" say: experience is what you get just after you really needed it.

Cheers,
Keith
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5 years ago