October 4, 2021
Montsoreau to Montlouis-sur-Loire
It's certainly getting colder at night. We slept in our fleece and wool socks. They made a huge difference. We just had to make the mental switch from summer to fall in order to make some practical changes to our routine.
The theme of the day was levees. Dirt trails on the levee. Concrete trails on the levee. Asphalt roads on the levee. Sometimes we had a great view of the water. Other times it was obscured by trees.
The trouble was getting to the river in the first place. We were humming along, following the signs, when all of a sudden I draw to a screeching halt:
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I swear that there were no detour signs posted. We only had to backtrack a few hundred meters, then we followed a good road for a while. When we finally got to an intersection with a road heading north, we saw little detour signs. So we ended up following the official déviation without even knowing it.
When we reached the levee, we found that the opposite way was blocked off well before any construction started. Good on them!
None of this matters to anyone unless they're currently touring, since the sign said the work would be completed by mid-October. What should warm the souls of all cycle tourists is this lovely branded La Loire à Vélo truck parked at the barricade:
We also saw them later on. They weren't doing anything heroic -- just emptying trash cans -- but it's cool that there are staff dedicated (seasonally, one would suppose) to maintaining a specific long-distance cycling route.
We picnicked in the lovely little village of Béhémont:
Just as I finished the last bite of a lemon tartlet, Sunyoung winced. "Uh, you have a flat tire." We promised to always check every morning and after every long stop. She kept our promise, and as a result, our lunch break wasn't delayed. However, I didn't get to rest. I found the leak, patched it, checked the tire thoroughly, and reassembled everything. Three flats in four weeks isn't too bad. My rear tire is nearing the end of its life. I probably won't replace it until we return home. I hope that turns out to be a good decision.
It rained lightly in the afternoon but it didn't last long. I must've put on and removed my windbreaker 6 or 7 times over the course of the day. We found the "cobblestone kilometer" that Michel warned us about. At least I hope that was it, because if there's another, worse one, I will curse like a sailor all the way through it.
We looked for a place to buy groceries but kept coming up empty. We finally found a Monoprix in a big shopping mall in the very suburban-feeling city of Saint-Sauveur. They had a Seattle's Best Coffee shop, a donut shop that advertised "American XXL coffee", and a pretty decent-looking burrito joint. I can't lie: an American-size cuppa joe sounded pretty good just then.
From there until when we reached the Loire again, we felt like we were riding through Paris. Tours has lots of traffic, lots of bikers, and lots of people. We passed some incredible buildings:
...the trouble was that we were tired, and the campground was sooo close! I think the longest we spent at any one place in the city was this annoyingly slow traffic signal:
Eventually, we made it back to levee trails and to our campground, which is right on the route. The forecast calls for rain overnight, continuing through the morning, so we hedged our bets and opted for an "equipped tent", which is basically like a scene from M*A*S*H. It's a few euro more, but only a few.
We didn't make it to Amboise, but we put in a respectable day of riding. I'm pretty happy about it. However, I need to figure out a way for us to visit Clos Lucé without us having to worry about our bikes or gear.
Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 1,625 km (1,009 miles)
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