Day 80: Orleans to Gouillons

April 26, 2024

Victoria the bike dies from a hub attack and is magically resurrected.

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After a day of warming up and rest, we looked at today's potentially long and chilly ride to Chartres with optimism. We bundled up, pulled our bikes from the storage room, and set off. In fact, it wasn't just optimism. In a whole day off the bike I had been looking enviously at the other Loire a Velo riders in town. "How come they get to ride!", I whined.

So it was really nice to be going. It was nice for exactly .33 km. At that point, crunch, clunk, and my pedals would turn no more!

Of course this event instantly had us trying on various strategies for what to do next. We had hotel reservations for the next nights, in Chartres, Rambouillet, Maisons Lafitte, Giverny, and Boubiers! One of the leading plans was to use the train to get us to Chartres, if the bike would not, and to look for some kind of repair there. This had the weakness that repair just does not seem to happen instantly, and within one day, anywhere. But we were so focussed on getting to Chartres, just because we had said we were going there (and the non-cancellable hotel booking) that we pushed the bikes to the train station to see how the timings looked. Did we think the train, being fast, would get us there in time to find a shop and get the bike fixed, today? Sure, and maybe we could tour the cathedral to boot!

SNCF soon put us straight. With the bikes, we could not go directly to Chartres. We could only go to Paris, make our way from one station (Austerlitz) to another (Montparnasse) and come back out. It would be night when and if we made it. Scratch that!

Next idea, we now at last could prove that the bike wouldn't go. So we would push back to Cyclable bike shop and hope that they would have an answer. Also, since Cyclable was the German bike shop in town, I was quite prepared to (basically) throw mine in the Loire, take 3000 euros, buy another one from Cyclable, and get out of town!

The push back to Cyclable had the advantage that we now had .33 km of new territory in Orleans to look at, and that produced the photo below, of buildings we had not seen before. If you look closely, you see a man at his balcony. That is, real people probably live here. In our usual fantasy state, we thought about how that could be us if we played the right cards and broke the right piggy banks.

We showed up and took our "usual" position in front of Cyclable, fifteen minutes before opening. In five minutes, the staff came along to go in a back door and open the shop. But we had some warm greetings, and a quick review of why we were back. Then there was the familiar routine - put out the ramp, put out the demo bikes on the sidewalk, and (only then) invite in any customers. That was us, we were in.

We intercepted the staff in the street, for a reacquaintance.

The bikes come out. Look at that great one. It has a seat in front, with seat belts. We briefly talked about switching to that!

The mechanic's name is Noé, and like the other two workers in the shop, we found him to be really sweet, and extremely knowledgeable. We were so glad to be able to show that the bike really did have a problem, and Noe undertook to disassemble it, more or less right away!

Yes, it's the rear hub and not the motor at fault.

Noe was good about showing what was going on.

We did not quite understand, but a pawl had come loose and fallen deep into the planetary gears, jamming the mechanism. Unfortunately this was because the thing had not been assembled right in Nantes. Also the expected new grease was not there, and the thing was very dirty.

Noe felt he had a chance to retrieve that fallen and jammed part, but it would take time.

We left the shop to go look for some chocolate, to help us withstand the stress about the hub. For some reason, all the chocolatiers were hiding, and in a bit of wandering we just came to this shop, specializing in something they were calling a Merveilleu, a "marvellous"?

There was some baking action going on.

But the main product is these little meringue balls. Not enough weight and calories in there, but it had to do!

When we got back, we found that matters had advanced to a critical point. Noe felt that the equivalent of open heart surgery was needed. He would drill his way in to there! We verbally gave the "informed consent", as there was no other option.

This looked a bit hopeful, and that looks like a pot of hub grease?

But no, the other two staff looking on turned away, and gave us the news that the patient had expired. There was no hope of repair. We knew then that we had to implement Plan B, buy another bike. Dodie began to remove pieces from the old bike - water bottle holders, thermometer, and the like. But wait, the whole show came to a halt, because Lunch Time! Yes, it's still France, eh.

We dumped ourselves into the street, knowing that we had an hour (yes, it would be a quick lunch) to go back to the Cathedral and catch some things we had missed yesterday.

Just out in front of the shop we met two cyclists who belonged to some touring bikes that had been there through the morning. These were Scott and Sharon, heading East on EV6. They had bravely left their bikes and gear locked here. It was rather clever, because being in front of a bike shop and with the shop's bikes out there too, there was a certain security.

Of course, as is always the case, many UQs were exchanged, and it was great fun meeting them.

Scott and Sharon, from Flagstaff, Arizona

We walked up to the Cathedral, where we wanted to pick up on some things we had missed yesterday. The first was the Joan of Arc chapel. This has a fairly standard Joan statue, but also a plaque dedicated to American soldiers that died in France in the two World Wars. Saint Joan has been drafted as the protector of soldiers, or maybe American soldiers.

At the Joan chapel, Dodie lights a candle. This is for our usual candidates, but also now we have a dead bicycle back at the shop.

Now that we were back in person at the cathedral, we could figure out the order and placement of the ten stained glass panels about Joan's life. I was morbidly interested in noting the one about burning at the stake.

I also captured the one about Joan's capture.

There were lots of aspects of the Cathedral mentioned in the pamphlets that we had not racked down. But we were happy for now. We set off back down Joan of Arc street, and wow, the Jeanne d'Arc bakery was open! We went in, and I told the man of our visit in 2015, when the place was in disarray. This was news to him, since as a Johnny Come Lately he had only worked there since 2018!

The Jeanne d'Arc bakery. (btw, she was not from "Arc", but Arc was a form of her father's name).

Some tartelettes from Jeanne d'Arc bakery.

Walking back to the bike shop, we considered which bike to buy. There were some with sort of relaxed cross bars, but I tried one Moustache, and it was clear that with packs on the back and the amount of on and offing we do, a cross bar of any type is a major disadvantage. That left two step through Kalkhoffs. One had the same 500 mWh battery as on Dodie's bike, Bosch Performance motor, hydraulic disk brakes, and of course derailleur. On sale today for 2600 euros. But then for 3000 euros it could be the Performance CX, and 600 mWh in frame battery. We decided the 2600 euro one was good enough - still a big upgrade over my old bike.

I walked over to tell the staff which bike it was going to be. But here was Noe holding a wheel with no hub, plus my bike was assembled and out of the shop. What happened? Noe had found a wheel where the rim had been worn out by braking, but the hub was good. Hub transplant! And my bike was ready to go! We were outta there!

Like in Hondaribia, it is so great to meet a worker that takes the job to heart, and that can think outside the box. Noe is such a one. Here he is with the donor wheel.

The other two staff at Cyclable were excellent too. We really enjoyed our time with all three.

Since it was now something like 2 o'clock, we felt we could no longer reach Chartres, and would have to refocus on Rambouillet. But we could not reach Rambouillet either. So we chose a target part way to Rambouillet.

We first passed back through the square, with its famous Joan statue.

There was a market underway, but no time for that now!

About 10 km from the old town there was a bit of that modern blah stuff.

But the track we hd made soon put us on this.

It was not so bad, until it turned to this.

We had already decided to get off this track, somehow. But we were further encouraged by the signage. Still we had no choice but to carry on for a bit.

Ok, no photographs is a bit harsh. It turned out this was a shooting range. I joked that if night fell they would not be able to see us to shoot us, but Dodie pointed out the existence of night scopes. This was gallows humour for being fairly screwed here.

We found our way to a "real" road, having passed over some ditches, fallen trees, and mud to get to it. To be fair, our algorithm had said "route includes some private roads, do you want to include them", or somesuch, and we had said "sure, whatever". The algorithm neglected to mention that someone might shoot at us, or release the dogs!

We now began to pass by or through an amazing list of villages. Two main features of this region are that first it is the "Beauce", a very flat agriculturally productive region near Paris. Second, the buildings had become very old, grey, stone structures - very picturesque. Here are a few images of what we were seeing:

And oh, a Partridge, probably a Red Legged. We were looking for the Grey.

As the evening wore on we picked up the pace.

There were a lot of wind turbines about. These blades seem to be used ones.

Our track said to turn onto this! No way, we have places to get to!

We put on our rain jackets since we saw clouds approaching, and yes, ten minutes before we arrived at "Ancienne Maison des Templiers" it began to rain. But we had made it, and were warmly greeted by our chambre d'hotes host, and his very friendly cat.

The building here is extremely old, atmospheric, and well restored. We'll learn more about where we are tomorrow. For now, it's been quite a day!

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 3,911 km (2,429 miles)

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Tricia GrahamThe miracle of Orléans. Have you made a voodoo doll of the lady on the Nantes bike shop yet
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6 months ago

Scott FenwickQuick buy a lottery ticket! You and Dodie must be living right. I just took a wheel in for truing to our LBS and it is a one week turn around.

As part of the hub conversation - this rear wheel has a three level Sram Dual Drive internal hub which replaces the front derailleur with roughly a triple chain ring range. It is coupled with a 9 speed cassette on the back with a regular derailleur. We had the internal hub serviced before our last trip and although an older model of internal hub - I find them to be very reliable.
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6 months ago

John FlecknerBest bike shop story ever, and with great illustrations. I just bought a new single Bike Friday, first for one without an internal rear hub, but they aren't making the good, old hubs.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to reach Paris but we will miss the daily postings.
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6 months ago

Kelly IniguezAs a new owner of an IGH, I've found your story to be quite the cliff hanger! A new wheel is much cheaper than a whole new bike. Whew.
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6 months ago

Suzanne GibsonWhat a day! So glad for the happy end!
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6 months ago

Ben ParkeGlad the patient was resurrected. Must have been that candle Dodie lit.
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6 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Ben ParkeTrust us, we were incredibly happy as well. A good night's sleep has also been very restorative.
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6 months ago

Karen PoretAll’s well that did, indeed, end well! ( and not IN the well)..onward Grampies! Champs you two are..
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6 months ago

Keith KleinHi,
Sheldon Brown once said that the mark of a good bike mechanic was the ability to build a wheel. Since a hub transplant requires exactly that, it would appear that you found your man. Bravo Noe!
There is a Cyclable store in Dijon and I have had good experiences with them, too. So maybe the marque is developing a reputation for quality. Travelers take note!
Cheers,
Keith
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6 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Tricia GrahamI am really torn, because she was so nice to us and we like her. I think I will send our invoice of 175 euros plus the loss on the hotel reservation of 77 euros to the Nantes company, just to see if they feel like helping out with it.
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6 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo John FlecknerAfter 90 days enforced rest, we'll be back in France!
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6 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Keith KleinThe remarkable thing is that the guts of the Nexus come out without disturbing the spokes. So you see Noe holding the donor wheel with a big hole in the middle, but the spokes and rim still there. Even tougher than building a wheel could be monkeying with those ball bearings, pawls, and planetary gears inside!
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6 months ago