August 30, 2017
Baume les Dames
When we came down to check out this morning there was a group of other cyclists. They were middle aged men from Namur in Belgium doing a tour right around France going in the opposite direction to us. We sorted out our bikes and decided we would ride into the pedestrian centre of Bescancon to have our breakfast. It was a lovely morning and hot already. The town was alive with cyclists, Bescancon is such a cyclable city. The interesting thing was the bikes, more that half of them seemed to be folding electric bikes. The reason for this is that although the central part of the city in the loop of the river is very flat once you got out of there it is straight up hill so electric assist would be very useful. Talking to one of the owners they said they were really excellent. Costing only about 1000E they had a rear wheel motor and centrally located battery - the owner couldn't talk highly enough of them as the answer for cycling in Bescancon.
Then onto the track. Here the Doubs pushes its way through the Jura mountains and we were clinging to it. It is very picturesque with heavily wooded mountains on either side. When we did our trip from London to Rome we didn't follow the Doub but shortly out of Bescancon we took straight off up into the hills. I recall how steep it was and remember we had to push our bikes for around an hour - can't imagine doing this now. It was a short day today so we weren't hurrying and were lucky enough to find two good coffee stops. One thing I don't like however is the French airforce playing their war games. In their delta wing fighters they swoop into the valley then up again, the noise is terrifying.
We arrived early, had a picnic by the river then found our hotel - it is everything to all people hotel, bar, restaurant and tabac. The man is very helpful and our room although tiny is good but very purple
Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 1,336 km (830 miles)
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