August 16, 2011
I Consider Making a Voodoo Doll: We make it to the lovely town of Chinon
Chloe wished us a fond farewell this morning. It was such a nice place to be in. Lovely spacious room, garden area and most importantly such kind friendly people. Very reasonable too at 55Euros a night including breakfast. As we normally do we set off about 8am when the day is gloriously cool so the cycling was great. Ken having done the route twice yesterday was an expert. We pulled up at Decathalon just as it was opening and bought a drink bottle for me. Then in for a bit of a look at the centre of Saumur. We didn't go into the castle but just looked at the outside of it as it watched over the river.
A bit early for a coffee so we decided to push on. Then wosh that too familiar sound. This time Kens back tire. Again the side wall had blown out. I began to wonder about making a voodoo doll of Mark. It was he who had persuaded us to change our very satisfactory tires for these 'continental town and country tires'. They are absolute CRAP, NEVER consider putting one on your bike particularly a touring one. We had a spare of course so everthing was quickly fixed. Our confidence was badly shaken and we still had two of these tires on the front. So back to Decathalon and we bought another 3 tires discarding the last of Mark's favourites. That is 5 new tires in less than 48hours. On we went happy in the knowledge our tires were 'normal' and we had a spare.
Up until Saumur the signs on the cycle way have been absolutely superb . Afterwards they deteriorated a lot and we were glad of our good map. Quite often the track takes you in what seem unnecessary circles or up a steep hill just to come down again. At Turquant we stopped for a coffee usual price but very small - Madam told us it was 'grande'. There we met a nice retired Canadian couple who lived locally. The main reason for this is that she is exceptionally keen on horses and told us that around Saumur is the equestrian centre of France. Saumur has 2 inside are has one extremely ancient. She rides 4 to 6 times a week .
On we went with it getting hotter and hotter. The prolonged activities in Decathalon meant we decided to shorten our day and just go as far as Chinon. This was a excellent decision as the town is charming, full of tourists of course and with that very familiar and well photographed Chateau above the River Vienne. I must say we are awful wimps, once more we have opted out of camping. It was 30 degrees and the pitches available had little shade so we have opted for a cool comfortable hotel room.
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Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 394 km (245 miles)
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