To Decize - From Paris to Paris - CycleBlaze

October 8, 1993

To Decize

Today's entire ride follows the Besbre river as it drains north toward the Loire.  Rachael is quite tickled that my routing priorities have changed, and I am seeking out the flattest possible route.  Today's path was ideal to the situation, with barely a rise to the road all day long.

My emergency repair idea worked, but barely.  It has defects though.  First, the only usable gear is a bit too low - with good technique and a very high cadence, I can maintain an average speed of 21+k, but the riding is not too comfortable.  Second, I couldn't quite adjust the chain tension in this gear properly, and couldn't get the wheel securely into the forks.  As a result, mechanical difficulties were the dominant feature of the day, with perhaps a dozen or more stops to realign the wheel or get the bike back into gear.  The solution, while obviously better than the other alternatives, didn't really work that well.

In spite of this it was quite a pretty day, following the stream through Bourbon chateau country. 

Chateau de Lapalisse
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Chateau de Lapalisse
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The two most memorable incidents in the ride were: 1) A stop to hide out from a brief rain shelter in a sheler at a park, long enough to win a cribbage game (At last!  After a nine game losing streak stretching back to Provence, I've finally got my own winning streak going); and 2) a lovely picnic on the grounds of the very beautiful Thoury Chateau, which unfortunately was closed for lunch when we arrived.

Chateau de Thoury
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Chateau de Thoury
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Chateau de Thoury
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Chateau de Thoury
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We came to Decize about 4:30 and decided to stop for the day, uncertain about lodging further on and distrustful of my bike.  To our surprise and chagrin, Decize gave us our first lodging problem.  For some time it looked as though we would need to bike 10k east (in the wrong direction) to a hotel - but finally, after some helpful telephoning by a hotelier, we were directed to a place on the north edge of town across three bridges (Decize is oddly chopped up into three chunks - by the Loire, the Old Loire (presumably the original channel), and a smaller tributary.  With much relief we settled into our room and resigned ourselves to eating a traditional meal at the hotel - somewhere between an expectation and condition for renting a room for the night.

Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 2,366 km (1,469 miles)

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