August 19, 2023
To Laon
Once more up with the wind turbined
Ken Writes
The hotel Picardy was amazingly good. The girls on arrival and before leaving gave us wonderful help with the bikes. It was not easy but they made it so.
The meal last night in the hotel restaurant was very fine. We both ordered something with Agneau in the name and it turned out to be 3 lamb chops with beautiful peas and mine a carrot dish. Very classy even though quite a lot of the lamb ended up between my teeth
We were into breakfast at seven and left at eight. The exit was easy at first but the climbing started straight away. We were out of the city in 5km and into ups and downs and farming country. Tiny villages came and went and Komoot kept us on track
We crossed the l’Oise at one down with quite a lot of water in it. Then it was climbing and climbing. I did most of it on my bike but did have to get off and push twice. 6 to 7 km/hr in my lowest gear is very hard work- walking and pushing at 4K/h is pretty easy. Tricia powers by and waits at the top
Since we last rode this route or similar there have been some bad changes. There is mass extinction of backeries and it is not much better for PMUs. The result is that struggling cycle tourists have no way to rejuvenate - even the road side seats are very rare and tomorrow on Sunday there will be nothing
We were up with the wind generators for a long time and knew we wouldn’t be going any higher, Lots of wheat, sugar beet, spuds and a few charolaise cattle
We finally found a log to sit on for lunch With the disappearance of Boulangeries the bread I got yesterday was nearly inediable even with a nice Camembert cheese
Then it started to rain and the last 12k were wet. We had been able to see the towers and spires of Laon for a long time. We rode around the hill the city is perched on with massive traffic and very poor cycle tracks. Eventually we got to the Kyriad on the far side of the city very wet. We could bring the bikes into reception and Tricia has subsequently been trying to plan the next step. She is convinced the 65km of hills to Reims is to much for me so has broken it into two steps
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Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 929 km (577 miles)
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