One Adventure Ends and Another Begins

Greetings from Tours!

It's Monday, the day after the finish of our epic Lionheart tour with Bike Odyssey. If you weren't following our trip from Venice (starting, for me and Dianne, over a year ago!), through the Dolomites, into and covering quite a lot of Austria, southern Germany and finishing with a week in France, you can read about it here. Otherwise, most of this post has some photos from the latter part of the ride.

Only a few days of riding left at this stage

Post Lionheart Dianne and I have settled into Tours for a week. We passed through here on the last day of the cycle tour, visited the impressive Cathédrale Saint-Gatien, had coffee and were chuffed to discover that we actually rode within a couple of streets of the apartment we had booked many months ago for a week of post-tour wind-down. Here's a Google Maps image showing the location of where I am typing this from ...

Our apartment in Tours is between the Loire River and the centre of town

Today we had a short ride, walked to pick up our hire car, drove back to the town of Amboise where we spent the second last night of Lionheart (more about that later) and did a little grocery shopping. All really quite domestic really, but in a very relaxed holiday spirit.

I thought it would be good to share some reflections on that epic ride, which will most likely be the last really big cycling tour we will do - but of course we still plan to travel with bikes, just not for so long day after day.

Random Images from the last part of Lionheart

Using the calculator and my figures from Strava I worked out that once Dianne and I rejoined Lionheart after having to abandon last year I rode 2394 kilometres and climbed in excess of 26 000 metres. It was a brilliant journey and we were very lucky with the weather. We caught up and rode with friends made on previous bike tours, and met for the first time a lovely German couple we'e been communicated with on Strava and by email for a couple of years. Here's a photo of Dianne and me with Matthias and Karin one morning before setting off for the beautiful town of Eguisheim ... 

Matthias, Dianne, Karin and Doug in Bräunlingen

Tuesday morning

Life has certainly slowed down appreciably in the brief time since our tour ended! I am able now to blog at leisure and purely for the pleasure of sharing what we're up to with friends and family, and keep a record for future reference. 

For the next bit, I thought I'd share a series of favourite images from the last part of our ride. There aren't any stunning images of the environment, or grand edifices. Rather, they are about moments along the way, some of them not directly involved with riding a bike, but more about a sense of space. But here is a lovely image taken by Francesca,  one of our guides, of Di crossing a bridge ...

Di crossing a bridge in Austria

One thing about riding a bike is that - if you want it to do its job - you've got to look after it. And of course the starting point is where the rubber hits the road: keep your tyres pumped up! We were both using latex tubes on this trip, which tend to lose a bit more air that butyl tyres so they require a bit of pumping each day ...

Me, pumping up Di's tyres for her. (That is my job, after all! 😉)

There are lots of claims made about the multiple benefits of running latex tubes - and a couple of downsides - but ultimately after deciding to give them a try we just like the way they feel on the road. 

The day Matthias joined our tour for a day (Karin couldn't come because she had to prepare for a gig) was a gorgeous ride. While I was waiting at the top of a hill for them, they decided to take a break just back around the corner at a scenic spot that is a favourite of Matthias's ...

Di looking fresh as a daisy

Matthias instigates a break (not a breakaway!)

When I went back to look for them they weren't at all sheepish about keeping me waiting in the hot sun!

There's something I particularly like about crossing bridges ...

Friends from Sydney came on tour with kits from a bike shop. Two different eras are represented in the photo below. While the kit that Louise and Michael are wearing might be just a bit more stylish, I still prefer Jose's kit, which is not plastered with advertising for a real estate firm ...

One day on a long ride most of us stopped to photograph this beautiful bunch of horses ...

We haven't spotted a lot of wildlife along the roads, although a few riders have seen a deer or two and a few snakes have been spotted. Unlike Australia - and Tasmania in particular there is very little roadkill, which is nice. I did see a dead hedgehog one day, and this poor, beautiful peacock which must have been collected by a car ...

I was surprised that, as we moved further west roadside icons all but disappeared. I guess that makes sense with Austria and Germany not being predominantly Roman Catholic. However, as we rode back into France I expected to see more of them to start appearing. Not so. I did stop to pay my respects to this lonely madonna though ...

One day Bruno gave us a short tour past some of the "Grand Crus" vineyards. It was a delight to see that some of them had reverted to cultivation between the vines using horses to reduce the compaction of the soil. Here's a couple of images from that little ride ...

... and another from when we stopped for coffee and I copped some stick for taking yet another photo featuring my bike ...

On one ride we crossed a canal where a spot of lock traversing was underway, which added another dimension to the day ...

One day we rode through the Parc de Chambord and past the Château Chambord. I didn't really care about including a photo of that grand edifice, but this was a nice photo that Di took of me entering the park ...

Entering le Parc de Chambord

Francesca was brilliant and making connections with people. Here's a feel good selfie she took one morning before I set off on the bike and she set off to deliver us great goodies from the van while we were en route to our destination ...

Hiya Francesca

Here's another posed photo but, with the Sunflowers, it's a classic of summer cycling in France ...

Di in front of the biggest sunflowers we've seen on this trip

On another day a few of us who love cycling history and culture were very much taken with this classic Peugeot poised by the side of the road. With its 100 Euro price tag there were a few of us who would have liked to take it away if the logistics of transporting weren't such a problem ...

A Peugeot for €100 with Campagnolo parts. A bargain!

On one of our longest days on tour it was pretty warm and I was getting low on water when I spotted a dear grand-mère in her garden, said "Bonjour Madame" and asked if she would mind filling my bidon for me. Here she is with my freshly filled Bike Odyssey bidon in hand ...

Merci beaucoup, Madame!

We stayed in a few flashy places along the route. Here is Dianne and Bruno on the terrace of one of them ...

Bruno and Dianne relaxing post-ride

The last image in this section is of a gate-post ornament that amused me so much I doubled back to make a record of it ...

For love of elephants?

A Stroll Around Amboise

Our last night on the road was spent at the lovely town of Amboise. As was the case for most of our destinations on tour, Dianne and I didn't get much of a look around. However, after settling into Tours and collecting our rental car we thought it might be fun to drive the short distance and have a walk around. We'd hoped to have a look at the Leonardo da Vinci museum in the house where he spent the last years of his life but the lady at the Tourism Office advised us that we'd be wasting our money with the time we had available, so instead we opted for a more leisurely walk and lunch. Here are a few photos from our wander around ...

The people hereabouts are very proud of their history which is reflected in many old buildings

I don't know that I've ever seen a thoroughfare with the name "Joyful Street" anywhere else

This wasn't lunch but very French, or at least that's what I thought ...

Just a random sculpture in front of a random house in a random street

But this one, c'est Monsieur Rabelais!

I think this might be a wall that has been restored "in the style of" the original, but it looks a bit artificial

Signs showing consideration of cyclists are all over the place here

Carefree cycling?

Feeling Right at Home in Tours

It's now Wednesday. We're having a bit of a chill out: shopping, sightseeing and for some ... an afternoon Nana Nap! Di's got some new kit, I've got some new bike lube and will be out shortly to clean the bikes and bring our drivetrains up to scratch. 

Yesterday was a terrific day for us. We had arranged to meet our Strava friends (from our membership of the 60 Plus Club) Alain Gillot and Alain Avanet at the cathedral to go for a ride. They brought along Michael an American friend of theirs who has settled in Tours and rides with them from time to time. Here is a photo I took of the two Alains and Micheal at the cathedral before we hit the road ...

Dianne, Alain Avanet, Alain Gillot and Michael

Shortly after we set off we stopped at this traffic light ...

A traffic light for cyclists

I made a point of whipping out my phone to get this photo. Notice the sign and the bike symbol? It says, "Cyclists press and wait." This is yet another of many, many examples of the way this society caters for cyclists. The culture of cycling is deeply embedded in the culture of all the countries we've been riding through, but especially here in France. So many of the towns make special allowance for cyclists. For example, here in Tours on most one way streets we've seen - and there are a lot - cyclists are allowed to ride against the flow of traffic. Indeed there is sometimes a narrow bike lane marked for them. Wouldn't it be nice to think that some cities in Australia - especially the one where I live? - will someday approach this level of understanding and integration?

Alain Gillot had organised a route for our ride, which took in a visit to a boutique winery for a tasting. The neat thing about this place is that one of the sparkling wines they produce is made without added sugar, which requires a higher level of ripening. They also produce another sparkling that used sugar for the secondary fermentation, but only about 40% of that typically used in Champagne. Both wines were delicious. Here's a photo Di took of the two Alains, me and Michael toasting our host ...

... and a photo of Di asking a question about the vintage ...

... and here's a map of the soil types of the MontLouis area and the names of the wineries ...

Shortly after we left the winery we pulled up for Michael to take a photo of Dianne and me with the two Alains in front of a grape sculpture ...

We rambled across the Loire River pausing to admire the scene, look at some fish and take a photo ...

Everyone we've talked with about the river has remarked on how low it is this year. Let's hope they get some decent rain in the watershed soon!

Not far from the end of our ride we took a detour along a gravel path for a while, and I did wonder what Alain Gillot was up to. Didn't he know that Dianne and I had done enough dirt on Lionheart??? His purpose soon became apparent when we pulled into a spot for refreshments ....

After a few stories and some laughs to go with them, we got back on our bikes and crossed back over the river via a dedicated cyclist and pedestrian bridge ...

We finished the ride by confirming an arrangement to meet again on Thursday for a longer ride, this time with the addition of another Strava friend, one Jacky Dorisee. Can't wait. 

Later on, Dianne and I topped off the day with dinner at a restaurant only about 150 metres from our apartment, which was recommended but our riding friends ...

Dinner with "The Rabbit Who Smokes"

Afterwards, Dianne said she thought it was the best meal she'd had since we left home. And it was actually quite reasonably priced.

I thought I'd finish with a photo of Di walking towards our apartment after we finished dinner last night ...

Our place is in the ground floor on the right

... and another, closer image with our bikes parked outside waiting for their pampering ...

Better not keep them waiting I guess ... even though the Tour de France is on TV. Still, I can just pop my head in the door from time to time, and I'm sure I'll be finished well before the real action starts to happen.