June 12, 2003
Arras - Ham
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Today would be the day when we would break the surly bounds of the Pas de Calais. Straight after breakfast, with light hearts, did we not set off on the road to the sunny south. Er, not yet. I went off ploughing through the traffic and lost Chris at a red light. I retraced and after 10 minutes or so we were reunited, not too joyously. Definitely my fault, too hasty, eager for the oleanders and terracotta pantiles of the sun-drenched midi? that'll be a while. Bapaume first.
Another small interruption for those who have interest in these matters, is the question of maps. We used the Michelin Regional series, which do all the departmental maps do, only more, because they are bigger. As far as possible, we followed the white roads, which are usually quiet. Less often, we used the sometimes busy yellow roads,. Occasionally we rode on the red roads, usually Routes Nationales, when it was absolutely necessary. If that sounds like navigation for the Kindergarten, well, sometimes it pays to keep it simple. There is a drawback for anyone wanting to put the miles in, your route meanders and you do spend a lot of time checking your location and direction
It was during this section of the trip that we were most reminded, that this part of Europe is drenched in the blood of the youth of so many nations. The War Graves, these conspicuous memorials of mass slaughter are, to my mind, the greatest argument in favour of the European Union.
So, to Bapaume. We have it right now. I ask directions to a Supermarket, Chris buys the food. Bread, cheese, tomatoes, fruit, always bananas, the cyclist's companion, and fruit juice to be diluted 50-50 with water. This latter direction comes from Chris's days as a long distance man. The theory is that if you take concentrated sugar into your system, although this may produce almost instant energy, the body reacts by overproducing insulin to synthesise the sugar, which then results in later fatigue. We followed this regime every day and at the end of every day, we were fucking knackered.
From Bapaume we followed white roads almost all the way to Péronne, in the valley of the River Somme [that name may be familiar]. The first of the big northern rivers whose valleys we would cross. We ate our power lunch on a park bench overlooking a weedy lake, whose far banks probably concealed the river beyond. We left the town on the main road, soon to turn onto a minor road which followed the Canal de la Somme for perhaps 15 km before reminding ourselves, once more, of Newton's laws of motion. We passed through the village of Y. I thought the village sign had been vandalised, but no. How or why [ha] it got its name, I do not know. The picture is from a later ride. We rode for a short stretch on a dirt road, for the first and only time of the whole trip until, after some debate, and a trip past the sugar beet plant we called it a day in the town of Ham.
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As I remember on our journey so far, we had not encountered any other touring cyclists. This situation was unlikely to alter for as long as we were in the vicinity of Ham. We found a hotel, the Restotel-Valet, it was closed until 7pm. It was now around 4-30pm. There is a Tourist Information Office in Ham, attached to a run down and graffitied modern[ish] town hall. It was closed too. We looked for another hotel, found one and unbelievably it was full. We went back to the Resto-valet. The doors were still locked. I went back to the Tourist Office and spotted the list of phone numbers for local accommodation and woke up someone inside the Restotel-valet. I reserved a room. We still couldn't get in until 7-00pm. We went to a café-restaurant across the street, the Café Fleurie. They had German beer on offer, so we had some. Then we had some more. The owner said the people in the Resto-valet were special. We knew what he meant. At 7-00pm we signed in. The room wasn't too bad. I had been fearing worse. We had dinner in the Café Fleurie, Steak and chips for me. Not too bad. The owner and his wife were nice. We finished dinner then went for a walk to the only other bar that was open and listerned to the owner moaning about social security scroungers and the 35 hour week. He closed. We went back to the Café Fleurie and had more beer. I took a picture of owner and wife and went to bed in the Restotel-valet.
Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 247 km (153 miles)
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