Day 5 - Ride Day

Upon awakening, we opened our curtains to check the weather:  raining and wind blowing.  Checking on the internet, it said there would be light rain all day and winds from 13-17 mph.  Ouch.  Originally, Mark and I intended to ride the 100 mile route and David would ride the 50 mile route.  From the beginning I had some misgivings about David riding alone in a foreign country, but we had arranged for him to have cell phone coverage in Europe as well as Mark’s phone.  But with the weather, we decided that we would all ride the 50 mile route together.  That way, if it got unbearable, we could all bail together.

Outside the hotel the VIP group of cyclists gathered for picture taking.  Everyone looked like serious cyclists.  The way I tell serious cyclists is when they have words on their jerseys AND shorts.  That was my first clue that this was going to be a completely different ride than I had been on before.  With our new attire we looked the part.  Hah!

Start time for the 100 mile bike ride (162K) began at 8:30 am.  Leading off the pack was Laurent Jalabert and Bernard Hinault, two of the most famous names in French cycling. Everyone had been given ankle straps with chips in them (like for marathons, etc.) that would record the time you left the start and returned.  That was my second clue that we might be in over our heads!  In the organized rides we’ve done, you just start within about a 30 minute period of time and it’s more laid back.  Also the demographics are very different.  This ride was about 95% men and a much younger crowd.  At the dinner the night before we had learned that many would finish the 100 miles in 5 hours or less.  That includes any time off the bike.

 The start time for the 50 miles route (82K) was at 9:00 am.  We began and were with a very large group. 

We were riding though the downtown areas of Nevers and had gendarmes stopping traffic for us which was fun.  On an incline, David shifted out of his big gear and dropped his chain.  We stopped and put it back on, but by that time the group had whizzed on by.  We followed along what we thought was the route, but because of stupidity on our part in not realizing that the streets were marked on the asphalt with arrows, we became lost.  It also started raining harder.  They had not provided us with turn by turn instructions like we have had in other rides, but Mark knew some of the names of the towns we were supposed to go through, so we headed in the direction of one of those towns using the road signs.  At that point I was glad that we were with David, but worried that the rain and the uncertainty of where in the heck we were would diminish the enjoyment for him.  I shouldn’t have worried.

After about 16 miles, we realized that we were going in exactly the opposite direction of the route, as cyclists started whizzing past us going the other way.  But we wanted to ride at least 50 miles so we continued on, meandering through the French countryside and towns, calling out “bonjour” to the people we saw who would call out to us in French.  We had no idea what they were saying.  Probably something like, “you stupid idiots, you’re not supposed to be in our town, you are going the wrong way!”  By this point the rain had stopped and the sun even managed to break through, so we were much happier.  The wind was still a factor, however.

We rejoined the ride and headed back to Nevers.  At one point, David got ahead of us on a fast downhill and we weren’t sure he made the sharp left turn so we spent some time looking for him.  We were glad to have cell phones.

At the rest stop, some of the groups from the 182K were coming through:

The rest stop was at the bottom of a climb and after that group went through, we started up and were passed by another large group.  Man, they go fast.  It made me nervous having so many whizzing past me while I’m cranking uphill.  Oh, and let me interject here that I really hated the components on my bike.  It is a famous maker that starts with a “C” (but I’m not mentioning brands, remember?).  I could not keep it in my easiest gear without holding the shift lever all the way over the whole time.  Also it would shift to a harder gear whenever it felt like it.  I was not impressed and more than a little frustrated.  I also think our tires were under inflated, but we had packed our CO2 cartridges in our carry-on and they had been confiscated at the airport!  The last thing I will whine about is that after more than half of the ride I discovered that my front brakes were causing drag on the front wheel - when I tried to spin the tire, it would stop!  Not good.  It is always hard to ride a new bike.  One guy we met from V*elo News said he never rides an unfamiliar bike. He always brings his with him.  (He did the ride in 5 hours.)

This area is so lush and green, it is truly amazing.  I love the white cows we keep seeing in the fields (right behind Mark.)  They are called Charolais cows.

 We stopped many times to take pictures, it seemed that there were so many gorgeous places I probably could have stopped more, but then I would have never finished!  David actually finished about 20 minutes before us.  He absolutely loved the ride, thought it was perfect, actually, and now wishes he had a nice bike.

The last climb into the old city:

Notice the rough brick street – not fun on a bike!

Our total mileage was 100K (62 miles) so we sort of did our own bike ride.  We're calling it La Ostler.

Ending spot for the ride:

The young man that handled all of the arrangements for us (Pierre) greeted us at the end.  David had admired the t-shirt Pierre was wearing with the company logo and before we knew it David had one to take home.  He also scored a company jacket which is not sold in stores:

He keeps speaking with a French accent and wishes he had taken French in high school.