August 21, 2022
Retyrement on 2 Wheels 6
My Bleue Heaven
Defying the threats of plague, flood and fire, we’re looking forward to another bout of European cycle touring.
Since the halt to overseas travel, prompted worldwide by Covid, we’ve decided we need something manageable to test the waters again. La Voie Bleue seems eminently suitable for the time we have- about 6 weeks. The plan is a sojourn along the German and French Moselle, with a boucle into Bourgogne from Dijon. That will no doubt cut the mustard, before a return to the Bleue Route at Macon on the Soane, and southwards to Lyon. We fly out from Nice, so anything after Lyon will be a bonus
Our starter is a flight from Auckland to Frankfurt on Sunday August 21. Frankfurt will position us well for our initiation- a shortish ride north along the Rhine to Koblenz until we reach the Moselle and head south.
Our bikes haven’t seen action in France since 2018, and last saw any real touring on the Otago Rail Trail at the start of 2021. So they’ve been given a tune up- brake pads, rear cassettes renewed, tyres checked and one or two other minor refinements added.
My relationship with my Brooks saddle, perhaps the most important feature of my Kona Sutra, has, over the course of around 8,000 Kms, become very comfortable, to the extent that one of us has moulded closely to the shape to the other. Marmot, our orange habitat, veteran of not a few Camping Municipals, among others, has been waterproofed in anticipation of late summer thunder storms, and our camping equipment checked.
Weight, as ever, is a consideration- we’ve pared down the toolkit and restricted ourselves to lightish bike locks; every article of clothing and footwear has been carefully assessed for its multi purpose function. The excitement is growing - even the unreality of long distance air travel is beginning to hold appeal-Time to go!
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