It's Day 3 and already Paul's faced with rowdy drunks and a puncture...
What a day!
After a 2:15am wake up call from a gang of rowdy drunks, (Brit Hoorays - who else?). I slept well and enjoyed a nice breakfast before hitting the cobbles at 9:00am sharp.
Things were going well; light tail wind, smooth tarmac tow paths, clear Garmin instructions - even an engineering masterpiece to admire - then bang… or psst psst psst psst to be more precise. A rear wheel puncture.
I have tubeless tyres, which means that a puncture should heal itself with the latex goop running about inside the tyre. With all the weight of the bags it held up (along with a second puncture) for about 15 miles, then gave up the ghost near a retail park - where I added an inner tube in front of a rapidly gathering crowd of onlookers. Some of the children learned a few words they wouldn’t find on the school English curriculum I fear.
As Belgium changed into France in the blink of an eye, it struck me that there was a big South Yorkshire ex-mining community feel to the small towns. One idea clearly being, "Why put in bike lanes and repair the terrible roads? If you’re on a bike you’re either unemployed or a ponce (my option) and you deserve everything you get."
For a Saturday, the French don’t have a lot of shops or cafes open for the man on the road - so I couldn’t stock up on fodder or have lunch before tackling the afternoon. By around 3:00pm I was ready to let myself into someone’s house and empty their fridge into my face - but fortunately I found a banana stolen from the breakfast buffet to keep me going.
Finally, after a long and stressful day which culminated in a 1 mile climb at 8%, I found my hotel - next to which was a 1 euro jet wash, so I hosed the old gal down with a promise of some oil at sunrise or thereabouts, before checking in.
What a place!
Every room is themed and mental - but the hosts are nice, and have two 70kg St Bernards - I’d have taken a pic but they scared the shit out of me (they don't understand English, so ‘sit’ could be just the attack command they’ve been waiting for). After a nice long shower I went into town and ordered a pizza the size of a lorry wheel and ate in front of the bewildered lady at the till. Lovely!
Anyway, after a third VERY long day, I’m going to sleep on the idea of having a shorter day and a laundry sesh tomorrow in Reims.
Let’s see what happens!
It's all down hill from here!
"It's me, Sugar!" Paul stays in a Marilyn Monroe themed hotel room.
The 'engineering masterpiece to admire' also known as the Ronquières Inclined Plane.
Paul's keeping track of his mileage.
