Day 61: Saturday, 9 July 1983

Start: Hostel, Dieppe, France

End: Campground, Caudebec, France

Got out of the hostel by 8:30 after the usual breakfast of bread and jam and tea and then doing my share of sweeping and other chores. Down to the museum for the 1942 Dieppe raid. Lots of interesting stuff. Picked up some pamphlets. Not very heavy, so Bob didn't complain too much.

Looks like a ferry runs from here to England (Newhaven?) but I'm not ready for that. Definitely need to go through Normandy and then hope to see Ireland next. 

Finally pulled out of town at 11:00 after visiting the museum. Not exactly sure of my route. Trying to calculate a fairly direct way to Normandy with minimal traffic. Nothing looks quite right. Kind of feeling my way along. Eating lunch along the road. Hot.

After lunch weather much hotter. Bit of a tailwind, but never got up much speed. Bob must be sick of my singing today. Why do you ride for your money? Why do you roll for short pay? You ain't getting nowhere and you're losing your share. You must have gone crazy out there.

With a late start because of Dieppe museum, not sure how far I could get. Suffered yet another flat, goddammit. Brand new tire punctured by sliver of metal. Where does all this debris come from? Don't they ever clean off the roads around here? That cost me more time and bummed me out, so I pulled over about five kilometers later when a campground turned up. Decent site right on the Seine River. Hot, and still a lot of daylight, so I put up my string and all my clothes are airing out again. The June Bug grows black with mildew. Smells lovely. Sleeping bag pungent and losing loft.

Hoping the sun will cure some of that while I sit here and read.

Across the Seine tomorrow.

Conditions 

Distance: 65 km 

Weather: Hot 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Moderate 

Terrain: Mostly flat to rolling 

Mechanical: Flat tire 

Physical: Feeling a little lazy