The Wandering Idiot

For all you Ozzies out there, France has Big Things too

Today has been a brilliant day.  The ride to Tours went very well – nice and flat – another day on the banks of the Loire.

Catherine sent me off with a bag full of fresh walnuts from her garden (thanks Catherine!)

and my first stop was a local patisserie.  With fresh baguette and pain au chocolate in hand I set off for the quiet side roads that Catherine had directed me to on a map.

The riding was pleasant – the day started off slightly overcast but the clouds lifted towards the end of the day – there were may beautiful houses and château to enjoy along the way.

The only issue that I am having right now are my knees.  Not sure why, but they just started acting up yesterday, and today the left one is exhibiting a dull throb – quite painful when I pedal – at rest it’s ok…a little worried about it, but tomorrow I will have the day off in Tours so hopefully the break will help.  I’m also going to buy a knee brace to help support it.  If anyone out there has some experience or advice on this please get in touch.

Once I reached Tours I had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my hosts for the weekend, Sebastien and Aurelie, so I parked myself at a pub to update a few things on the blog, check my emails, etc.

This evening was absolutely fantastic.  Seb and Aurelie are really great and I feel fortunate to be able to stay with them.  They are both real travellers with lots of stories of adventure to share.  Seb has completed a year of cycle touring in South America and still spends a month every year touring a new country.  Their stories are inspiring.

Aurelie and Seb

For dinner, two of their friends joined us – also avid cycle tourers!  It was great – lots of talk of touring, great food (thanks Aurelie!), some French cider, plenty of Belgian beer, and finished off with some of Seb’s father’s home made liquors which were older than me!

Great to find people that I feel I can connect with.

Tomorrow is a day of relaxing and maybe some sightseeing in Tours.

68km Bicycled Today

750km to Date