June 7, 2023
Day 112: Oulches la Vallee Foulone to Montbrehain
Many ups and downs with Wicked Winds
Marie-Eve gets up early to fix us coffee, good bread and homemade honey. Yes, they have bees. And Philippe also sends us off with a jar of honey and two pastries. They sure take the top spot in taking care of cyclists, we had such good food here!!
From Oulches, we start with a 100 meter climb to a cross roads where there is a war monument and a farm where Napoleon once slept. Then we have a downhill and another climb to the next ridge. This area was fought over heavily during WWI; there are cemeteries and still lots of UXO littered around the fields. Philippe told us the locals are still finding bits and pieces, but nobody is too concerned anymore since the last casualties were back in the sixties from some kids that tried to pry open a grenade in their garage.
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As expected, today is a tough day, 84km and over 800 meters of climbing. The road just keeps going up and down. RWGPS sends us down nice “white” roads so the traffic is light. The wind is mostly a crosswind and helping to cool us since the sun is hot and there are no clouds. The wheat fields are starting to also sprout lots of windmills, we talk about how they at first might be considered a blemish on the landscape, but considering the alternatives and all the high voltage power lines that are already here it is not like this landscape is virgin. And we need electricity.
We reach Montbrehain at about 2, pretty much wiped out. RWGPS sent us down a “shortcut” on a rough dirt road that almost did us in. Then of course one more hill into town. We are done. We find our hosts house and knock on some doors and windows until Catharine comes out of the garden to greet us.
Today's ride: 84 km (52 miles)
Total: 4,726 km (2,935 miles)
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