September 27, 2021
Malestroit to Blain
Light rain and moderate winds made our big empty campground adventure a little more interesting. Had we waited until 9 to leave, we could have enjoyed some sunshine. Instead, we made our "getaway" under cover of darkness. Everything was damp, including us. As anyone might have predicted, the gate had not been locked overnight. To celebrate, we had the bright idea of visiting a boulangerie in lieu of our usual breakfast at the campsite. It worked out, but only to the extent that we ate our pastries in the parking lot with no coffee to accompany them.
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All this meant that we broke all previous departure records. We were on the trail shortly after 8am. However, as the sky slowly cleared, we both wanted to shed our rain gear, and have a proper coffee. This stretched out our morning break. I think we still saved some time overall, and it was fun to vary our routine.
The surface was mixed today. Parts of it were not so good: dirt with small rocks poking out everywhere. We were able to avoid the little puddles of mud that formed here and there. You could tell that riding here would be well-nigh impossible after a good rain. I guess we were lucky.
I think we finally are getting bored of the canal. It's still nice, and there are still sections that feel active, with boat traffic and pretty locks. Other sections felt calm, natural, and quiet. Riding here made me think of impressionist paintings and music. Actually, I was humming Faure's famous Pavane a lot (he was kind of a pre-impressionist). Yet other sections were somewhat industrial. Just outside Redon, we followed a rail line for a while, and the canal was stagnant and walled on either side. Not ugly, but certainly not pretty. There was also a section that, for some reason, had the water flow lowered to the extent that it was unnavigable. The mud-caked banks provided evidence that this had been done recently.
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Wildlife on the canal is enjoyable. My novice eyes noticed butterflies, slugs (a lot of 'em!), cranes, mallards, swans, and cormorants. Not the most exciting cast of characters, but they're charming. Well, except for the slugs that can't move out of the way and end up decorating our wheels and frames with their carcasses.
We had to negotiate some pretty heavy traffic for our shopping stop in Redon, but we managed:
As we made a wide left turn out of the parking lot, I noticed that my bike's handling was off. At first I thought it was the weight of the extra food we had just bought, but then I looked down and saw that my rear tire was underinflated. I pumped it up and it seemed to be ok. About 20 minutes later, it was back to where it started. A slow leak. I decided I would nurse it and wait until tonight to fix it.
The highlight of the day was a laconic lunch at Fégréac's municipal park/boat launch. We did a Very Smart Thing by staking our tent, footprint, and rainfly to the ground to let the sun and wind dry them out. It didn't take long at all! Sunyoung bought sandwiches at the boulangerie this morning. They were both delicious, but somehow hers was about twice the size of mine. This makes me a little suspicious.
We had a lot of ground to cover today. Among the rain, the rocks, the slugs, the acorns, the flat tire, and the headwinds, it was pretty tiring. We made it to our destination campground in Blain at 5:15. Not too bad, all considering. We had a lot of errands to take care of, much of it of the bike maintenance variety. It was past 7:30 when we decided to visit town to pick up some dessert. We had to hurry because the shops were closing at 8:00. The first place was already cleaning up, but we found a nearby patisserie. There I got to feast my eyes on something I'd only heard about:
Brioche by the kilogram! Love it!
Tomorrow we make our way into Nantes, where we will rendezvous with Michel Fleurance, and park ourselves at a nearby campground for a couple of days.
Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 1,274 km (791 miles)
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You are covering so much ground we already have so am enjoying it all over again
Keep safe
Tricia and Ken
3 years ago