Monday 30 May 2016

History, Herstory ... oh, and that guy called Caesar

Greetings from Burgundy!

Yes, we have traversed from one famous wine-growing area (Champagne) to another. As we say when we're roughing it like this, somebody's got to do it ...

Hmm. Sorry for that indulgence. We do recognise how lucky we are to be enjoying such wonderful locations, in this time in history especially. The landscape we have been through today has seen shocking privations and decimation through warfare, both in ancient times and during more modern history. Sam, our  history expert, has been detailing for us the appalling things the Romans did to the Gauls when he was in this area. My brief summary is this: of the 3 million Gauls alive at the time of Caesar, 1 million were killed by him, 1 million enslaved and the other million left to wander around wondering what had hit them. More about that later, but let's go back to the beginning of today's journey.

Leaving Troyes

There was a lot of discussion around breakfast today about appropriate dress code for today's ride. Rain was almost a certainty: but when? And how much? Should one take one's heavier rain jacket or the more streamlined version?

Here's Chris contemplating his choices ...




Meanwhile Jo, realising she has an excuse to put on her stylish new booties, is about to break into a smile ...



... especially as she has her manservant José to help put them on ...



The roads were damp but it wasn't actually raining while we waited to get underway ...




... but it looked like rain could start falling at any moment so we were all either carrying or wearing a rain jacket, and some of us had our waterproof booties on.

When we got underway we were all together for a while and I got a photo of Chris and Roberta from team Wagga Wagga rolling along in front of me. They have excellent club jerseys which you can see in this snap but I will have to get a photo of all four Waggans together in their colours before trip's end ...



By the first rest stop the Dynamic Duo and their entourage had pulled away slightly and here they are at the rest stop, champing at the bit to get underway again ...


While not as remarkable as many of our morning stops, there was a good bar-restaurant to visit for coffee and plenty of room for us to congregate, fill our bottles and have a quick snack.  Here's Sharon arriving ...


... and Emily and Ian pulling in with Don just behind ...



With the longest day of the tour underway (on paper it was shown as 165 kms), most of us moved through the first stop fairly quickly. Di and I followed and were closing in on the leaders when the team car went past ...


We were working a little harder than we wanted to be at this stage so decided to ease back, enjoy the scenery and preserve ourselves for the hills in the latter half of the ride.

Once again, Sam and Dylan had put together a superb route traversing almost exclusively quiet roads with very little traffic. The fact that this was a Sunday also meant that there were few people in motor vehicles cluttering up the byways of southern Champagne and northern Burgundy. We travelled through forested sections and lots more cropping country. I stopped momentarily to photograph what I think might be an old grain silo ...



... and noticed a roadside attraction on a smaller scale while I was stopped ...





Like the day we rode from Artres to Sedan, we found ourselves at this point on something of a plateau with rolling fields all around ...


... but before long we descended into a green forest tunnel ...



Lunch in an Idyllic Setting

Our tour organisers had selected a superb spot for lunch on this day in the form of the magnificent Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Here is a plaque identifying the site ...



The group was still not very dispersed at this stage, with small bunches arriving quite close together. Here's a shot of the last bunch parking their bikes in anticipation of lunch ... 


Once again lunch was superb, but on this day it just had to take a backseat to our location. We all spent a bit of time looking around. Here is a short video of the inner grounds so you can get some idea of what the place is like ...


If you are ever touring around this part of the world, I would suggest that it's a stop you mustn't miss. 

Speaking of touring around "this part of the world", I guess I should show you exactly where we travelled this day ...


Two French War Heroes and a Genocidal Invader

Some folks won't like that heading but hey - it's my blog! The two French french war heroes I'm referring to are Vercingetorix and Jeanne d'Arc (or the Maid du Orléans). Most of us rode up to view the impressive statue to Vercingetorix ...




On the way I stopped to photograph the statue of Jeanne d'Arc ...


... but the main attraction for the day was the museum showing the exploits of Caesar in the local area ...





One must admit, he was a military genius. His achievements here at Alesia are regarded as his greatest tactical victory. Here are a couple of photos that Di took inside the museum ...




... and a neat photo of a woman drawing the walls that Caesar had built ...




It was a very interesting and sobering display of military power and ruthlessness. Once again, our tour has been spectacular in showing us this part of the world.

Saturday 28 May 2016

Quiet Roads and Quaint Villages

Traversing the Champagne Region

We spent most of today riding along quiet country roads, wending our way through numerous little villages and enjoying a generally more relaxed day in the saddle. Of course every village has its church, some quite large and others more modest. There was plenty of visual evidence of the villages ancient origins. What some of us are finding most interesting is that often quite small villages will be home to very impressive churches. Here is an example ...



Lots of barns and houses displayed the timber and mud plaster construction used in this area during medieval times. Some are clearly very old; some of those are still in very good condition while others are barely standing. No doubt this construction has continued into more recent times. Here is an example of a building alongside the road in one of the villages we rode through. 



One of the things that Dianne and I have really appreciated in past visits to France is the integrity of architecture in most places. Our friend Michel has explained to us that there are generally strict regulations about what sorts of building styles can by implemented. I must say that I find this consistency quite pleasing to the eye.

The group I was travelling with was moving along very nicely together, with a strong tow from Bruno. Here's a video that José shot ...



Our first break for the day was in a town square that was home to quite a large church that was undergoing extensive refurbishment, with the leftmost of two towers wrapped in scaffolding ...


Stopping to Smell the Roses

We'd been moving along at quite a clip for the early part of the day, partly because we had a fair bit of ground to cover, partly because conditions were perfect for riding and partly because we were looking forward to arriving at Troyes (pronounced "trois", as in the number three in French) and our upcoming rest day. As the day wore on we decided to slow up and enjoy the scenery a little more. This allowed me to shoot this video as I rode through yet another quiet little village ...


Into Troyes along the Bike Path

After two breaks for snacks and 100 kilometres of riding we arrived at our lunch stop with about another 40 kilometres to  go. With scrumptious catering provided courtesy of Richie today, we enjoyed a great break out of the sun under the awning he'd set up right at the start of the 40 kilometres of bike path leading into the heart of Troyes. It's a marvellous bit of infrastructure that also circumscribes a loop around wetlands north of the city. We saw plenty of cyclists out taking advantage of this great resource. I paused a short way along the path to take this panning video of the scenery we were enjoying ...


After lunch Di and I rode with Jo and José. With about 30 kilometres to go we paused for a toilet and coffee stop where the bike path briefly joined a road. The café was a bit of a throwback: quite dark and with a thick fug of Gauloises hanging in the air. The two blokes inside had obviously been ignoring the law against smoking in bars - and probably forever. Needless to say we took our coffees outside. This very relaxing break, coming so quickly as it did after lunch, set us up nicely for the roll into town.

The route was mostly through open country but also wound its way through a bit of forest. Which was lovely except when we came through a slippery s-bend and I went down, despite travelling at only about 12 kilometres per hour. I remember putting just a slight lean on the bike to do the turns (I should have just rode straight through) and over i went quicker than you could blink. I landed with a fair thump on my right side despite the slow rate of travel - maybe because I didn't really skid at all.

A Good Drenching, Another Tumble and a Beautiful Arrival

Nearing the city, we'd noticed a huge, dark blue cloud building up for some time. Di and Jo were both thinking about stopping for a photo and it's a pity that they didn't because it would have led in quite nicely to the drenching we experienced about 10 kilometres out of time. More than cats and dogs, it was raining men! The heavy downpour was washing the salt from my sweat-soaked helmet liner into my eyes and I had to remove my glasses to see where I was going.  We found an overpass to shelter under briefly then continued on when the rain lightened. Although drenched, we were enjoying the riding until we got within about 3 kilometres of our hotel. At this point I noticed my saddle bag was flopping about: perhaps it'd come loose from when I had my fall in the forest. With the traffic quite busy now, and slippery roads, I thought I'd pull off onto the footpath to fix it. There was just the slightest lip on the edge of the footpath and, sure enough, I went over again. I couldn't believe it. After riding my bike about 15, 000 kilometres last year, including 4700 kilometres across Australia and not having had a single mishap I've now come off my bike three times in four days: twice in one afternoon! I'm hoping that's all the bad luck over.

Recomposing myself, with the help of José, Jo and Di, I climbed back on the bike and rode into the centre of the city. Just before arriving at the central square I was struck by the beauty of the canal we were riding along and felt I couldn't pass by without making a record of it ...


A welcome rest day now awaits. Laundry, café lounging, postcards (yes, they do still exist), a massage and a generally lazy day should recharge the batteries for the longest stage of the tour the day we leave Troyes. There may be a "Rest Day Reflections" post - or maybe not. We'll see how things go. 

C'est tout pour maintenant.  Je vous verrai à plus tard.

Friday 27 May 2016

Into Champagne Country: Sedan to Chalon

Setting Off


We were delighted to be greeted by clear skies this morning, the first time it has been so promising since the morning we set out from the heart of London, and that day deteriorated as we moved towards the coast. It was cool enough for all of us to be well rugged up, but Tony was ready for the sunshine ...


Meanwhile, Jo, his better half was taking a more conventional approach to the cold conditions ...



 The dynamic duo of Aaron and Richie were also more warmly dressed, and ready to lead the bunch out once again ...



We were faced with something of a rude shock in the form of a steep hill just out of town before we were properly warmed up, and that certainly broke up the bunch leaving six of us at the front.

Struggling to the top, we turned right an plunged into an emerald green valley. Cruising along the valley floor at the front of the group, I shot this short video ...



This day the first group had settled at six riders after the selection process of climbing that first steep hill. José I both liked the look of this lake and stopped to take a quick shot ...



A little further along there was a barn in a field that caught my eye ...



We stopped just over this bridge for our morning snack and coffee break ...



More great riding took us through gently rolling hills with the occasional tougher pinch. We were surrounded by an intensity of green everywhere, with lots of wheat growing alternating with an occasional splash of yellow canola ...


Lunch today was in a fairly quiet village with an attractive war museum ...


... which paid particular homage to the American forces that helped liberate the area ...


Bruno had prepared a magnificent spread for us all ...


The dynamic duo took a bit of a break together after lunch to contemplate the remaining part of the day's ride ...


They set off with Harold, while José, Sarah and I opted to pause at the café on the edge of town for a coffee before we got back on the road.

We started to see patches of poppies by the roadside ...



While the morning's ride had been amongst the most exquisite I have ever enjoyed, the afternoon proved to be a bit less so, with long straight and largely flat roads. The edge was also taken off the day somewhat by a bit of a headwind, but we were still having a pretty good day out considering it remained sunny for the first time on this epic journey.

We had left lunch with 50 kilometres of riding left, and José the Hardman, King of the Domestiques towed Sarah and me almost all that way. Chapeau, José!

I paused to take this photo of an attractive farmhouse just before the turnoff down into Chalon ...



Sam was waiting for us just another hundred metres of so down the road to point those of us who wanted a little side trip in the direction of St Etienne to see the basilique there. Here it is in all its glory ...


It would be a very impressive structure anywhere, but considering it is sited in a very small town it is even the more so.

I got a couple of photos of architectural detail ...




... before going inside for a look ...



One of the things we liked most about this building was that it wasn't overly ornate inside, unlike some large cathedrals.

Here is a graphic showing the route we travelled today, with profile of the terrain ...



After checking into our hotel it was time for a cold drink. While José and I were enjoying a beer our better halves arrived, and Di took a photo of José and Jo together, highlighting their legs ...


Speaking of highlights, we were treated by Bruno to a very informative and excellent seminar on the ins and outs of champagne before getting to sample various styles. Thanks Bruno! A very convivial dinner followed and that was another great day done!


Thursday 26 May 2016

Artres to Sedan

A Ride in Two Halves

Today's journey was 147 kilometres long. Another chilly start saw us set out all rugged up once again. According to my fancy GPS watch it was 6.8 degrees Centigrade, but the lack of rider comfort was largely due to the high humidity. 

It seems that most of us saw the ride as being made up of two very clearly delineated halves. The  cool and very overcast morning took us through lush but ultimately not very interesting farming country, especially with the somewhat gloomy conditions. I don't want to say it was boring as we were riding largely on quiet back roads and there was such a greenness about the landscape that made one think that if it was warm and sunny we would probably have thought of the riding as quite glorious, if not overly endowed with magnificent views. And let's remember: any day on the bike is a good day!

The second half of today's ride was really quite marvellous. I'll come back to that in a moment. First, here are some photos from our lunch stop. As for yesterday, the midday break was in such a great spot that neither Di nor I could do without taking a few photos. Here's one of the magnificent fortified church adjacent to our lunch stop. Note the turret in both the middle of the facing wall but also on the far left of the building. Maybe the rationale in building a church thus fortified goes along the lines of God helps those who help themselves.



The little town where we had lunch is called Signy-le-Petit. Its central square was most attractive and Sam had set us up in the bandstand right in the middle ...

The photo that Di took of me munching on a sandwich will give you an idea of the temperatures still in play at this stage ...



As indicated by its name the town was quite small but there were a number of quite impressive buildings ...


... which I guess testify to the richness of the surrounding farmland. 

The Beauty of the Ardennes is Revealed


Up until lunch we had been gradually climbing, as you can see in this cross-section, where I've marked our lunch stop with a dot ...


Although the altitude gain wasn't significant, what it did mean was that we finally started to get some more expansive views in the second half. Di and I had decided to ride on our own today so that we didn't feel we needed to keep up with the gun riders, which worked out really well for this section of the journey as I was able to stop and photograph and shoot some of my very amateur videos while moving slowly.

As you can see from the graphic above the twenty kilometres or so of riding was through a plateau of mostly gently rolling hills. Right near our high point I waited for Di to roll past ...


Just a little further along I paused again to pan across the landscape ...


I was going to cut the front part off this next video which I took while moving slightly uphill, but decided to leave it as it is because you can hear me puffing as I hold on with one hand and I think it gives a slight sense of the  gently undulating nature of the terrain at this point ...


Route des Églises Fortifiées ...

... or, the route of fortified churches is where we were riding for this section. In fact, the heavily fortified church in Signy-le-Petit where we had lunch marked the start of this road through history. I paused at one of the little villages along the way to take a photo of one of numerous signs marking the route ...



Whereas the first part of today's ride was largely farmland with towns sparsely scattered along the way, in this section the villages and hamlets came more re

gularly and each had its own fortified church, mostly small in size but still a stronghold against bands of marauders who would have been roaming the landscape in unsettled times. Here are a couple more  examples ...





Garmin Glitches and Losing Ground!

A great thing about using a GPS unit with pre-loaded courses is that it gives one independence. Each of us is carrying a Garmin which means that we can generally follow a route without having to be led all the time. Unfortunately, just before we entered the city of Charleville-Mézières not far from our destination of Sedan Di's Garmin died, which meant weren't able to cross-check the route through the city and missed a crucial turn. 

As this map shows, the city is a little complicated with a myriad of meandering waterways ...



While my unit was still working it had momentarily frozen when we stopped to work out where we'd gone wrong. Still being a bit of a Garmin rookie, I forgot that if you tap the unit it will relocate one's position. We spent about 20 minutes going around in circles before finally getting some directions that got us going the right way, but then only after another small detour. Our helpful local spoke quite quickly and I hadn't done due diligence and double check what she was saying. Another lesson learned: our French is improving but at certain times we need to be careful we get the info we want!

 Finally back on track we rode the rest of the way at a nice leisurely pace we stopped once more so I could take this snap of a more modern faux-fortified building in a small hamlet ...




In Sedan

When conceiving our route, Sam and Dylan had originally planned to spend this night in Charleville-Mézières as it is the capital of the region and has a number of interesting aspects, including being the home of the famous and influential poet Rimbaud and a centre for puppetry. For various reasons they decided to bring us to Sedan for the night and we were all glad they did. Sedan was founded in the early 15th Century and, reputedly is home to the largest castle in Europe, which now contains the hotel where we are spending the night. Here's a photo Di took which gives a bit of an idea of the place ...


... and another of our able soigneur Richie ministering to one of the bikes ...


(Unfortunately, massage is not within his scope of duties:
that will have to wait another two days when we have our first rest day in Troyes!)


Featuring Faces

After the delightful day's riding we gathered in the bar for pre-dinner drinks. When I saw the great dress that Jo was wearing I had to get Di to take a photo with her man José ...


Jo and José herald from Sydney and have been heavily involved in triathlon and ironman, respectively. Great riders and great company.

Where are we exactly?

Here is a graphic showing the route we covered today, traversing country near the Belgique border ...


The area also hold some special significance for me personally. As a small child (some say I am still that ...) I lived only about 20 kilometres from Sedan, across the border in Florenville. Here is another map showing how close it is ...


There were many reasons why Dianne and I wanted to join this wonderful tour, and this connection provided me with yet another. If you want to know more, buy me a beer sometime! And with that invitation to a future rendezvous I bid you Adieu!