October 7, 2021
Briare to Beffes
They say that you know you've reached an effective compromise when everyone leaves the table a little bit disappointed. With train tickets in hand to magically transport us between Nevers and Beaune, I feel conflicted. We are still riding our bikes into Lyon, and still, amazingly, camping tonight, tomorrow, and perhaps even Sunday evening. We also avoid having to transfer trains. I presented Sunyoung with a few different options, and I was delighted when she chose this one. Perhaps she heard the tone of my voice and responded to it.
The down side is, of course, that we're changing our route, and that we're no longer relying solely on human power to do it. I feel like we are breaking the spine of this lovely serpent of an itinerary. It was going to happen sooner or later, since I discovered only after our arrival in France that our touring bikes weren't going to be sufficient to handle the Canal du Midi, and a train will likely be the solution to that challenge as well. So, rather than lament the imperfections in my original plans, I am instead going to celebrate our inventiveness and flexibility.
Let's recap today's ride! We were up at 7, ate, braved the chilly morning air, packed, and made our way to the market at 9. We found ourselves on the north side of the Loire, which was slowly becoming the east side of the Loire as it bends to the south. The last village before we crossed the river had an enticing boulangerie and bar located kitty-corner from one another. We sat down at the bar terrace, ordered two coffees, then asked the server whether it would be OK to buy a couple of pastries at the boulangerie and eat them at our table. She said "of course, no problem", or something to that effect, so we had a perfect second breakfast.
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On the other side of the bridge, who did we run in to again but our good friend Christof? He wasn't sure which way to go, given the lack of signage. I pointed him in the right direction, and we rode together for a few minutes, simultaneously talking and avoiding potholes in the dirt path. I knew from yesterday that he rides at a fast clip, so I let him go. He had already booked a hotel in Nevers,. It was do or die time for him.
The route brought us to the canal that parallels the Loire. It's very pretty. We would have been more impressed if we hadn't already followed a canal for five days this trip.
We passed our third nuclear plant near Belleville-sur-Loire. The route took us right up next to it.
A ways after, the trail switches from levee to canal again. I turned a little bit early, while Sunyoung followed the signs. Soon we lost contact with one another through our helmet radios. Time to put our backup plan into action. I called her, she tried to explain where she was, then I looked at her location on Google Maps. I was the easily able to tell where I had screwed up and where the two of us could meet. It was a bit tense, but I'm glad we tested our tools and skills in a real-life scenario.
We had lunch in the lovely village of Saint-Thibault. It was apparently so captivating that we forgot to take any photos. More truthfully, we were simply too busy stuffing our faces and doing all the usual weird things that bike tourists do on their breaks like air out their sleeping bags.
The trail was flat today, and we had a tailwind for about half of it. Nonetheless, Sunyoung got tired in the afternoon and had to stop. We were in the middle of a long natural area with no benches or picnic tables. She took out our little tarp and sat down. I suggested eating something even though she didn't feel hungry. She finally agreed. It seemed to do the job, as we coasted into Beffes without much trouble.
Beffes is about 2km off-route. Not exactly the ideal spot for a campground catering to bike tourists. When we arrived, the office/town hall (I think) had closed for the day. The pedestrian gate was open, the facilities were all open, but no one was camping. Once again, we had the whole place to ourselves.
It's a really cool and interesting place. From what I can tell, they built it around the ruins of a former water station, whatever that is. Maybe a pumping station for the canal? I don't know. I have a pamphlet that I'll translate later (update: it was a cement factory!). This place has four pitches and 7 cabins. Five of the cabins are elevated. We decided to set up camp under one of the elevated cabins, where there are two picnic tables.
Just as we were getting comfortable in our discomfort of being all alone here, a group showed up to claim the ground-level cabin next to the tables. One of them spoke English. She explained that they are divers. I offered to move our stuff further away from the cabin. She said don't worry, we leave early in the morning anyway. After dropping their stuff off in the cabin, they left, and as of now they still haven't returned.
We have most of the luxuries we could ask for here: electricity, free wifi, hot showers, and good shelter. If rain threatened, we'd feel even luckier to have found this place. We'll have no problem making it to the station in time for our train. It'll be a new experience for us. We're looking forward to it.
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Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 1,928 km (1,197 miles)
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