August 11, 2017
Angers: More rather frustrating train travel
No this really is a cycle tour not a tour around the railroads of France
Last night it seemed clear to me that there was something amiss with my gears - I thought having internal ones would make life easier -- I was wrong. We decided that the best thing was to call in at the Decathalon in the morning and see what they could do. The answer was nothing much and the suggestion was that we went to a bigger bike repairer in Angers that had the appropriate part. How to get there? With me in the only one available gear and my legs going like a windmill it would take for ever. Therefore another train trip
After the trip of a couple of days ago we thought we were experts at train travel. We were wrong. We imagined that we would just wheel our bikes on and off and relax on the way. That wasnt what happened, Along came the train it was unlike any we had seen and very long. It appeared to have no bike carriages., then at the far end of the train we saw a ramp going down and a man pushing a bike up. Everyone else was on and running is not a strong point of ours. They were holding the train for us. We hobbled along as fast as we could, we must have looked pathetic. There was a very nice woman helping load. She said we had to take off all the baggage and then go back to the next passenger carriage. With an extreme effort we managed it and they held the train till we were aboard - it was late arriving in Angers maybe because of us!
Now in Angers our luck changed. Across the road from the station I saw 2 hotels, one looked like a dive and the other was 4 stars. I decided to try that and yet another miracle the lady in reception said we could have a 160E room for 80E and what is more she would throw in breakfast.
Angers is a wonderfully cyclable city, it seems to have bikes and cycleways every where. We easily found the big bike shop - they had the part we needed and we are back on track. Oh for some boring routine days.
Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 346 km (215 miles)
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