Up early for a quick breakfast before leaving Thiers for Roanne. But first I wanted to go to Office du Tourisme at 1 place Pirou in Thiers. It was quite an almost vertical climb. I ended up walking quite a bit of the way. Just as I was parking my bike someone arrived to open up the office. I asked for information on cycling to Bourg-en-Bresse. She didn't have any info and was only able to give me a map of the city of Thiers and direct me towards the route to follow in order to get out of town.
I cycled to Noirétable which was a bit south but eventually I turned north and headed for St.-Just-en-Chevalet. Much climbing but a bit cooler. Had to stop and put my vest and sleeves on.
After lunch as I was getting ready to set off a couple on bicycles came over and chatted with me. They were just visiting the area of St-Just-en-Chevalet and were curious about where I was headed.
I arrived in Roanne at 3 PM and wanted to check out hotel in centretown but door was locked and no one about. The couple I had met earlier after lunch passed by and we again had a chat. Found out they were from Cannes. I decided to go check out Hotel Terminus which turned out to be OK except for the E 1 charge for parking my bike behind the hotel under the stairs!!!
On my way over to the Terminus I passed by a cafe called Le Blog. Went in and found out they had an internet terminal set up for the use of clients. I said I would be back after checking in to hotel.
It was a dark and stormy night but I was determined to make it to Le Blog. It was a 15 minute walk from the hotel but by sticking close to the sides of the buildings I didn't get very wet. The PC had crashed and the manager was having a bit of difficulty re-booting it. Eventually he succeeded and I was able to post a couple days journey.
The walk back to the hotel was much quicker in the dark and the rain was really tipping down. Went into bar next to hotel and mentioned to bartender that I had just come from Le Blog where I had been able to access the internet to update my blog. He said I could have used his PC to access the internet!!!
Well I only made it as far as Les Echarmeaux today. Suffice it to say the climb was fairly difficult and I also had to stop for about an hour to wait out a downpour.
Cheers Roly
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Hi Roly,
ReplyDeleteI updated the group at Christopher's with your tales of adventure yesterday. They are most impressed!
Tony
Hi Roly,
ReplyDeleteWell, well my man. You are doing really really well, and I am really enjoying your blogs. I got a bit behind and just read the last, it seems, for the last 7 days or so.
FYI. We had a great honeymoon down near Myrtle Beach. Visited Charleston, some state parks and stayed a week in SC. We then we up to the Outer Banks of NC to a place called Nags Head. Really nice spot. Eve ate sea food for the whole time we were in the Carolinas. After NC, we went to Lancaster, PA and stayed overnight. The next day, Friday, May 29th we did a quick tour of the Amish countryside and went to a place called Intercourse! That is the correct spelling. We left about 3:20 PM and got to Ottawa at 11:40 PM. A great honeymoon.
Anyway Roly, keep up the great blogs and if somehow you can manage some pics, that would be great. Otherwise, we'll wait until you get back and have a photo show of your trip.
May your journey have less hills, less wind and more female companionship!!
Cheers
Barrie
Hi Roly : Enjoy your blog ! Keep writing ! We all missed you on Rideau Lakes this year. We (Peter, Tim, Eileen, Tom,Dave A and I) did the full Ottawa -KTown and back. Tom, Eileen and I decided to do the Cruise Route back via Merrickville. You would have found RLCT much more manageable this year as the temp only hit about 24 on Sat (versus 32 last year) and the sag wagons were empty - there simply weren't the "abandonnements" that we saw last year. Bit of rain and cooler on Sunday but basically ideal weather for a long trip. Eileen's longest ride this year had been only 95 km and she cranked out over 175 on each day (Tom put us all to shame by doing 220 km on Sat) How is your equipment holding up ? Would you change anything (like gearing ?) next time around or has it all worked to expectation ? Soyez prudent et bonne route !
ReplyDeleteHi Roly,
ReplyDeleteReally enjoying reading your adventures on your blog - it seems sometimes a challenge for you to find access to computers, but it's worth the effort!
Chatted with Keith the other night - the house is still standing, so all ok at Downsview!
Best wishes for sunshine and downhill routes!
Cheryl