update 2.
new rhythms: life on the road
15 June 2006
Location: Le Puy en Velay, Auvergne, France
- Kilometers: 763
- falls: Eric 4, Amaya 1
- number of times on-lookers have remarked "vous êtes bien chargés!" ( you're really loaded): 27
After cycling what will
certainly be counted amongst the 8 hottest days of the year, we arrived
in Le Puy, the starting point of the pilgrimage route leading to
Santiago de Compostelle. Mother Nature decided that the onset of summer
would coincide with our departure and we've had scorching afternoons
ever since.
On Day One we cruised along both banks of the Rhine, allowing us one final chance to bid farewell to Germany and treat ourselves to a delicious Spaghetti Eis (ice cream specialty that resembles a bowl of spaghetti, but with a strawberry rather than tomato sauce ). We knocked off just over a hundred kilometers without undue effort and were pleasantly surprised to see that hauling 30 kilos of equipment on the back of a bicycle is as demanding as we had imagined.
Curious individuals often ask why we didn't choose a tandem for our trip. The answer is simple: we both like our independence and Amaya has no desire to spend 18 months staring at Eric's backside. But cycling separately can pose problems--especially at a crossroads. More than once we've been obliged to flag down passers-by and question them as to whether they've seen a similarly outfitted cyclist, and if so in which direction was he/she headed. So we developed 'the whistle system' which numerous villages in Franche Comté are now well-acquainted with.
![Tackling the hills](../images/img_0091.jpg)
![French hospitality](../images/img_0098.jpg)
We hope you will be as pleased as we were to learn that St Bônnet le château is not only a well-preserved medieval village (which can only be reached by arduous, winding roads) but also the world capital of pétanque (boules). For us it offered a foretaste of the Pyrenees. While mapping out the following day's ride we realized with much dismay that yet more climbs were in store for us. A quick consultation with some retired locals lead to an alternative route consisting of an easy descent to the Loire valley and a pleasant ride following the meandering river of the same name.
We are now enjoying a well-deserved rest day, playing tourist and
seeing the sites of Le Puy. Tomorrow bright and early we'll set
of on the via podensis leading to the St Jean pied de Port, another
crossroads to Santiago de Compostelle at the foot of the Pyrenees.