Day 14: Towards Geneva -- And no slacking this time

June 22, 2012

I felt great this morning. It could have been the sunshine, or the real live bed I slept in, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was the pizza.

No, not the pizza we had last night, but the cold pizza; the leftover pizza I had this morning.

I think I embarrassed my friends, though perhaps I only amused them? We sat there in the cafe with our French coffees, they with their French croissants, and me with my pizza. I took bites clandestinely, turning my back to hide the evidence. Steph making subtle but unmistakable facial expressions.

I suppose it would be like me watching someone eat cold grubs in Asia, or Africa, or some other place where they can't finish their evening grubs and save them, to eat cold, in the morning.

Still, to me, it was energy; and familiar energy at that. Carbs, fat, and mostly, protein, and lots of it.

It's been a long time since I ate cold pizza. To American teenagers, learning how much beer they can handle, or unsuccessfully handle, at a neighborhood party, it is almost a right of passage. Or at least it was in the 70's, when I was "that age."

But today it was just what the doctor ordered, and this morning I felt strong.

Which was good, because we decided that we needed to get moving.

Like I said before, we are not lollygagging. The terrain has been tougher than any of us has anticipated. Still, we have been stopping for one or two coffees more than, what some would consider, normal. Be we need to get back on track and get to Geneva, so today we were up and out early, and planned to do a bit more distance wise.

The terrain wasn't as 'interesting' like the other days of climbing. It was dull by comparison, and that was just fine with us. Long, flat, roads were just what the doctor ordered for our tired legs and bodies. And, I suppose, in the end, there is something nice about riding through fields of wheat, barley and corn. Besides, the weather was great, and we even had a bit of a tailwind.

We rode from Violay to Poncin, 115 kilometers, to the base of the Jura Mountains, the ones we need to cross to get to Geneva.

Poncin is a picturesque little town, and the campsite was right on the river. Perfect. Tomorrow we climb, again. Our plan is to make it to Geneva in two more days.

The view from my hotel room last night. Not bad, eh?

This is a significant watershed area. We're not sure exactly what. Something like the continental divide though.

The view from one of our coffee stops. Hey, I didn't say we would have NO coffee stops, did I? Let's not lose our heads here.

We had a picnic lunch near the 18th tee of a golf course

We stopped at a cemetery that was quite moving. This looks like two from the same family who were killed in different wars. There was also a section with small graves for children.

Today's ride: 115 km (71 miles)
Total: 973 km (604 miles)

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