July 30, 2014
Vernon to Arques le Batteile: A long but easy day in the saddle
River valley routes are often the easiest way to get from one place to another on a bike. Today's route was no exception to this, and apart from one short climb to get around a place where the Seine came to the foot of the bluffs, it was easy gradients all the way. I followed the Seine downstream from Vernon to Les Andelys, where I stopped for coffee. Then began a long gradual climb to get to Lyons le Foret. There were a couple of small ridges to be gotten over, but nothing major. Lyons le Foret is well worth a visit with it's well preserved market hall and typical half-timbered Norman architecture. Lunch was gotten from a local restaurant with seating on the place de marché. Home-made rabbit terrine as an entree, and haddock for the main course. Leaving Lyons I got turned around, going south where I had intended to go north, but in the end the extra five kilometers didn't cost me very much. Just followed one stream down until it met another, then follow that one up to the height of land that marks the edge of the Seine drainage. Almost to the top of the climb, I met two Dutch cycle tourists coming the other way. They had taken all day to get from Dieppe, near where I was going. They were a little fatigued with the climb and thought I was being optimistic in thinking I could get there before dinner time, but I reasoned that I would be going down where they had been going up, so I decided not to put much faith in their pessimistic predictions. In the end, I was right, and it was an easy drop down to the coast. About the time they disappeared behind me, a noise stared from the rear tire. I stopped to inspect, and one of the bolts holding the fender in place had come loose and was rubbing the tire. I don't carry a set of socket wrenches with me, so I decided to look for a garage in the next village. As luck would have it, right at the top of the climb in the village of Buchy there was a bicycle shop. I unloaded the bike in front of the shop, turned it over and took off the rear wheel. The shop owner leant me a 8mm socket wrench, and in less than five minutes I was back on the road north. Not much else to say. I virtually coasted all,the way down to the village of Martigny, breezing along at over twenty kilometers per hour. The campground in Martigny is under the ramparts of the old castle in Arques le Batteile, where I got dinner in a pizzeria, accompanied by a bottle of locally made cider.
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Today's ride: 128 km (79 miles)
Total: 189 km (117 miles)
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