A dry(ish) start and warm so no waterproofs

As I woke up in our Hotel in Gray the Town was living well up to its name and there was no break in the sky at all – it was raining heavily outside.  This was most unwelcome because rain apparently makes for difficult riding conditions – the big races are apparently called off if it rains heavily – so it was very much with fingers crossed as well as creaking joints that I got myself up and going.  I’m not doing any riding but I was stiff and uncomfortable this morning so my in-built weathervane was telling me to expect wet weather too.

The Hotel breakfast turned out to be a very simple affair consisting of a piece of baguette and a croissant with a hot drink of your choice.  This was plenty for me and seemingly also for the substantial number of working men who had shared the Hotel with us that night – but nowhere near enough for our calorie-burning athletes.

Fortunately my  food stocks from the previous day’s lunch which we didn’t eat were to hand so I could supply the Team with cheese, meat and of course bananas.  They did not go hungry.

The rain went light and intermittent while we were preparing for departure which helped a lot because at this Hotel the car was parked in the open and inevitably piles of bags, bottles of water, energy drink powders and other requisites are spread about and had the rain not rele3ted during this phase we would have struggled.  The hope which the easing had brought lasted long enough for the Team to set off without their waterproof tops on but within a short time, while I was still packing up and shopping the rain started again.  Only three shopping calls this morning: both the pharmacy for more paracetemol and other personal requests and the bike shop for some chain oil were within walking distance then I spotted a Lidol where I bought a re-supply of contingency food for lunch.

Waterpoofs on over wet clothes, at least they would keep the wind out. I took this picture under the umbrella.

Then I found myself having to settle the Hotel bill again, so poor is Ben’s credit turning out to be in this part of the world, then I was off playing catch up again – and unfortunately in very heavy rain.  I soon had to have the wipers on high speed and I was worried about how the Team would be coping.  These were terrible riding conditions.  The temperature had dropped too so they might well be cold as well as very, very wet.

I caught up before the planned drink stop and overtook slowly.  Ben wanted to press on and this made sense because they were moving well and there was absolutely no shelter anywhere for a stop.  He must then have suffered a minor mutiny and I was called back to allow the Team to don waterproofs, which be3cause of the false brightening at departure time and the relatively warm temperature they had decided against.

They donned their waterproofs over wet shirts as quickly as possible and got going again rather than risk getting cold and/or stiff.   They were remarkably cheerful in the fairly miserable circumstances.

Any port in a storm - the lunch stop changing garage

I was getting a bit wet too and their foraging attempts inside the car had left it more than a little damp and untidy, so when I spotted a Boulangerie with tables and chairs inside I hesitation for all of a millisecond before pulling over for a cafe au lait and pain au raison.  While consuming this in the comfort of the Boulangerie I did spare a thought for the Team behind me, riding on through rain which was at times very heavy indeed.  I was also able to buy more batteries for their riding led strobe lights, which were an essential safety requirement in these conditions.

I caught up and overtook again and lady luck lent a hand.  Shortly after the distance window which Ben and I had agreed for the lunch stop a nice-looking hotel/restaurant appeared.  It looked ideal.  The staff were also extremely helpful, opening up their garage to park the bikes and to serve as a temporary changing room.  Dry clothes were dug out and donned.  It would be a wet ride again this afternoon but at least they would eat their lunch in relative comfort and have a dryish departure again.

Changing for lunch, note the water draining from above

The lunch stop was a great success and the rain also eased sufficiently to allow the Team a re-departure routine without too much difficulty.  The staff at the restaurant where we had lunch, the Chalet Bel Air in Mouchard,  were extremely helpful and allowed us the use of their garage to unpack bags to find dry clothes, store the bikes while we ate and also to re-fill the drinks bottles etc before we departed.  The lunch put a fairly big hole in the Team Kitty but it was just what they needed after a gruelling morning ride – a repeat of which they also faced in the afternoon.

I went ahead to check that our hotel booking would work out OK because we were having to split between two hotels for this stop and they were about 10 miles apart.  The first one, near the Railway Station in Campagnole, was hosted by a friendly lady who spoke excellent English and who promptly found somewhere for me to drop some laundry – much safer as well as more practical than me trying to do it again myself.

I dropped the laundry off by double parking in a traffic jammed town centre and then headed to the second hotel, where there was supposed to be some risk of our booking being unconfirmed if we didn’t show up early enough.  In fact it turned out to be the other way around and the place was shut up with no one in and when I checked the paperwork this was to be expected – if we wanted to arrive before 6pm we should have contacted them the previous day.

Dry, warm and well on the way to being fed

I arrived back at the first hotel (which was actually rooms above the Station Cafe rather than a proper hotel) just after the Team arrived at about 4.30pm.  They’d had a wet ride again and were glad to be there.  Had it not been for the awful weather this would have been the easiest riding day so far.

Ben strode off to the bike shop still wearing his cycling gear, possibly in the hope of admiring comments but also because there was a deadline – nothing would be open tomorrow, on Bastille Day.  Hopefully the road will be quiet.

So for this evening the Team split into two; Ben, Doug and Pearsey staying in Campagnole, the rest of us going 10 miles west in the car for dinner, bed and breakfast – assuming that the place would actually be open after 6pm when we tried again to check in.

Ben brought back a large bag of stuff but denies buying himself some flashy new cycling outfit in order to make a grand entry into Morzine but we’ll see.  Rumour has it that he’s bought himself a pair of blue tyres – now how trendy is that?

Pearsey has had his eyes on what has been until now our only remaining spare because it has white lines on it like his front one.  He claims that the lines make it easier for him to ride straight but i suspect that he’s going for image too.  Doug bought some neoprene shoe covers like Ben’s but if you’d seen Ben’s you would wonder why – they’re not in the least bit stylish, nor if push comes to heavy rain, do they keep your feet dry.

Fortification for the afternoon ride in the rain

So after a bit of extra running around the Station Cafe contingent were settled in and the contingent in the other accommodation, Hotel du Clef, an interestingly old fashioned hotel in a village a few miles away, were also under cover.  I was in the latter group, which made good sense in transport terms, and we also had the advantage (as we all saw it) of dinner bed & breakfast, which meant we could look forward to an early night.  I’ve not been riding a cycle for long distances (or at yet, the saddles are a real turn off) but I’m looking forward to turning in early.

Tomorrow is another day and hopefully a dryer one; as two of the Team were saying in the car shortly before I interrupted them with a near collision with an overtaking Frenchman (fret not Hilary, no contact was made) today was fulfilling for them if at times a bit scary – riding a cycle downhill when there’s a lot of water on the roads sometimes feels more than a little insecure.

However these guys are getting into the very experience if not the expert class by now and there was no indication from my viewpoint that they weren’t coping safely.  The wives who are reading this back home can put the life insurance policies away for the time being!  (Sorry if you’ve got them very well insured and that’s not terribly good news!)

Geneva here we come!

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