October 13, 2021
Lyon to Serrières
How enjoyable it is to be on the road again! Between the rest day and the thrill of starting a new bicycle route, it feels like we have pressed the reset button. Of course we're "seasoned pros" now. Even that established routine is being tweaked as we abandon camping for more civilized accommodations. The time and additional rest this buys us can be redeemed in either longer distances each day, or more time off the bikes each day. We're just going to play it by ear for now.
These days the mornings require 3 layers of clothing. By about 2pm we're down to 2, and it stays that way until quitting time. Dressed appropriately, we loaded our bikes and prepared for some city riding.
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We expected the transition from urbia to suburbia, but we were shocked when the route put us onto a rocky road between the railroad tracks and some light industry. It was at this time that these two fellows caught up with us:
They are firefighters who decided to ride from their homes near Paris, down to the Mediterranean, during their week's vacation. This is their first bike tour. They're doing 150km/day! They're regretting planning such long daily "steps" (a direct translation of étapes, I guess), but look at them, they're doing it! To be honest, it sounds like a fun challenge.
They still had lots of ground to cover, so they pulled ahead, and meanwhile, the trail had degraded into unstable single-track. It eventually widened again, but then the rocks and potholes got worse. We knew it had to end some time, so we stuck with it. We breathed a collective sigh of relief when we reached asphalt again. This gave us too many flashbacks to the trail we bailed on a couple of days ago.
From then on, it was smooth sailing. As a matter of fact, we more than made up for the time we lost on that bad section of trail. There were a few kilometers where tree roots, racines, had buckled the trail in places, but they weren't any worse than what we deal with on the trails at home.
We ate lunch on a big flat rock on the side of the trail in an industrial area. Each bite of sandwich was punctuated by the sound of metal being crushed across the street. Not peaceful, but it worked. We discovered, of course, that if we had continued another couple of kilometers, some nice picnic spots were waiting for us.
We stopped for coffee and a pastry in Sainte-Colombe, just across the pedestrian bridge to Vienne. Our chausson aux pommes came in this little bag, which I thought was nifty:
Sometimes it feels like this whole tour is a hamster wheel of riding somewhere, buying bread, riding somewhere else, and eating the bread. It's the good life!
We rode into Vienne to see the Temple d’Auguste et de Livie. I looked for signs of its having been restored, reconstructed, repaired, strengthened, etc. I concluded that I don't have enough knowledge to even begin to make such assessments. I simply trusted that this temple has withstood two millenia without collapsing. Incredible.
Today we tested the idea of cooking an early dinner before checking in to our lodgings. We found the perfect spot just outside of Saint-Pierre-de-Bœuf. It was only 3:30. I suggested riding into town first to kill some time. We rode, didn't see much of significance, returned to the spot we scouted, cooked, ate, and rode the last few kilometers to our chambre d'hôtes. Success! I hope we can do this regularly. One minor detail we have yet to solve is where to wash dishes. I considered the river but I'm pretty sure Sunyoung would not approve.
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It was no surprise at all that our destination was up a set of steep streets. We're no strangers to this game. It didn't faze us one bit.
We like this place and our host. There is one other guest. The four of us enjoyed tea and conversation for a while in a mix of French and English. It all worked out pretty well.
Despite a "rocky" start, this stage of the tour is shaping up to be a very pleasant experience!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinus_comatus
2 years ago
Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 2,167 km (1,346 miles)
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