Day 2
Everything has gone according to plan and I’m ready for a night in my ‘Bivouac Tent’ at the campsite in Azay-le-Rideau on the bank of the Indre river, a tributary of the Loire.
The day began horrendously early with gentle music being played to wake people up at 5.45 (4.45 UK), when we’d only been able to get in the cabins less than 6 hours previously.
It’s great fun jumping the long queues of cars waiting at the passport control when disembarking and I was out and starting the ride to Caen about 7.
A stop at a picnic area near Pegasus Bridge for breakfast and coffee was followed by a while at the memorial to those who landed in gliders just after midnight on D-Day and successfully secured two key bridges that were essential for the progress of the troops who arrived at the Normandy beaches.
Then it was a case of get to the train station before the rain sets in, which I managed with about half an hour to spare, though this meant a long wait for the train.
It wasn’t the most peaceful journey, due to a very loud passenger spending most of the three hours on her phone, including what seemed like a multi-part blazing row with whoever (or multiple whoevers) while marching up and down the carriage expressive. She seemed to calm down for the last 20 minutes (maybe the phone gave up), but by then all hope of catching up with sleep had long disappeared.
From Tours, at around 4.30, the proper ride began which was fine except for a very strong and gusty wind which was travelling in basically the opposite direction to me! That meant progress was slow, occasionally almost forced to a stop. The only ‘casualty’ to my plans was cancelling my stop to try and find a good view of the Chateau de Villandry, which has amazing grounds set out very ordered and geometric. However, as it is one of the Chateau that I have visited in the past, it wasn’t too great a disappointment.
The route out of Villandry was quite steep, but I managed, albeit with a few pauses for breath. Then it was back into the wind across the plateau before the 1.5km descent into Azay.
Hopefully an early, but less early than today, start for the first 70km+ ride. The weather forecast looks great with the rain and strong winds of today replaced by a calm and bright day with reasonable temperatures.
I’ll try and add pictures and videos tomorrow. Time for bed. 🛌🌙