We make for an interesting collection of cycling tour buddies - good friends off the road, enjoying each others company but certainly a group of mixed notoriety !
First we have the comeback King Noel, who after a pretty full on shoulder op not that long ago is giving this a real shake ! Noel is our senior spokesperson and esteemed treasurer doing a fantastic job on tour particularly with putting up with Henley. We've affectionately nicknamed Noel "Wrong Way Wolstencroft" (later Vasco for his back up navigation skills) for his penchant for wanting to ride on the wrong side of the road - don't worry Jenny we've caught him before he's done too much damage !
Next comes our first class navigator Rick who at times looks like he's riding with an IBM computer strapped on his handlebars as he guides us through thousands of French country roads & lanes. We've taken heaps of video for the sole purpose of showing Rick later what he's missed out on as he focuses on his critical role. Despite the occasional U turn we are exceptionally grateful for Ricks navigation work !
Our glue, if one could be described as such, is the big fella Harro our very own Jamie Oliver, Barry Manilow and Comedian all rolled into one. In short a general all round good guy who pedals like he's trying to launch the NASA space shuttle with his own pedal power !
The damsel of our group Vivienne provides the often lacking "substance" when you stick a bunch of men together. She makes sure the group looks after itself and that relevant ministers keep to their
relevant portfolio. She also conducts our morning stretching routine something between a Hare Krishna ceremony and a session on the rack ! For someone wary of on road riding and keeping up with the boys, she has done exceptionally well as a touring newbie no doubt aided by her Dr Who Tardis like panniers which seem to stay the same size no matter what she puts in them !
relevant portfolio. She also conducts our morning stretching routine something between a Hare Krishna ceremony and a session on the rack ! For someone wary of on road riding and keeping up with the boys, she has done exceptionally well as a touring newbie no doubt aided by her Dr Who Tardis like panniers which seem to stay the same size no matter what she puts in them !
Finally there's Henley ! He of course needs little introduction and is without doubt the larrikin of the group often demonstrating why schools for etiquette and social standing are such a waste of time ! With some leftover Albanian firepower in his legs Kev is going great guns no doubt fueled by an internal system that currently has every germ and anti body known to mankind flourishing !
Its hard to understand how a day forecast to be 23c could start off like it was made for brass monkeys! After our breakfast of supermarket left overs and early morning stretching routine, we said goodbye to our friendly hosts and headed to Gael before working our way on to Paimpont the centre of the Arthurian legend at the Forest of Brocelaide. While Linton might have been disappointed not to find an orc or two we were glad to take a coffee after first taking an earlier high altitude path to the mapped entrance of the forest only to find it closed to all traffic except walkers !
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| I'm a little teapot ! |
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| Coffee in Paimpont |
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| The Warby Twins ! |
Leaving Paimpont we got a roadside view of how beautiful the forest in this area is. For the next 20 kms following we cycled on numerous types of roads and lanes all with one thing in common, coming with short steep climbs that would have us by days end pretty damned tired !
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| Still happy ! |
We made sure we didn't pass an open boulangerie so stopped for lunch in Guer at the 40 km mark to take in the sun giving Rick, Noel and self an opportunity to have another delectable Chocolate éclair !
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| Lunch in Guer ! |
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| The O'Reilly Brothers - Chimney Builders ! |
The remaining 35 kms passed pretty quickly under Ricks guidance and we soon found ourselves entering Redon just before 4p.m. not long after "Wrong Way Wolstebcroft" decided it was safer to ride head on into incoming traffic than ride with us on the right side of the road in a cycle lane.
In need of a fix we had a coffee upon entering the town centre of Redon basking in the late afternoon sunshine.
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| Coffee at days end in Redon ! |
Cycling to our accommodation we needed to while away some time at the massive supermarket / store on steroids right next to our hotel before finally being allowed to crash in our rooms !
We wandered back into town at night doing about 18 laps (I only succeeded in doing 16 before succumbing to Pizza) before finally finding a reasonable restaurant !
We move on to the big city of Nantes tomorrow and connect with Eurovelo 1 which will takes us down the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux !
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