August 7, 2017
Mortagne au Perche: A good day with a twist in the tail
We had a meal in the square last night and once more were asleep as our heads hit the pillows and slept well all night.
Today promised a ride on small roads to Conde sur Huisne after which we were to get on the Voie Vert. The small roads were tiny and we were riding along in a tunnel of green with the trees meetig over us. We rose high above the Huisne and wiggled our way along with lots of ups and downs until we reached Conde. In the last week the Seminal Federal has been on. This is a great collection of cyclists who do various rides around the area. One sign said Take care 10000 cyclists - but there were only the two of us! All the surrounding villages had been decorated in various cycling themes and when we arrived in Conde it seemed that today was the day to remove all the decorations. We stopped at a bar there and had our first coffee then on to the Voie Vert
The Voie Vert is a rail trail going from Conde to Alencon, Today we were only going †o ride 31km of i† as far as Mor†agne au Perche. It had a hard packed gravel surface which was in the shade of the trees all the way and as it was following the Huisne upstream it was gradually but mildly uphill.
One problem with rail trails is that though you are passing through stations the villages that they used to serve are off to the side and in this case generally up hill. At Remalard we left the trail and went up in the village, There was a fruit and veg market in full swing and we sat in the PMU to drink our coffee and watch it,
A few km before Mortagne au Perche we were put off the trail and passed the enormous camping ground that had housed the cyclists - just a few stragglers left. But it was then that the climbing really began and by the time we limped into our hotel we had had enough. Our hostess took one look at us and kindly changed our room to a first floor one. We collapsed on the bed turned on the TV and the final of the Super Rugby was playing so we were of course delighted to se the Crusaders beat the Lions at Ellis Park
Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 235 km (146 miles)
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