Thursday 27 September 2007

Tuesday 18th September (Day 62): Paray le Monial to Decize (90 km)

Awoke to a gloomy tent which could only mean one thing - the rain that had fallen with a vengeance all night had not quite done its dash. It was cold too - about 10°. Packed up and headed off to the local supermarket for supplies (almost impossible to get white gas in France, so we're going to try unleaded petrol in our MSR Whisperlite stove). Cycled along the side of the canal initially whick broke the force of the head wind a little initially, but it was a wind that was to plague us forcefully for the rest of the day.

The sun made a couple of guest appearances, and lunch was by the Loire. We bumped our way down a steep little track to the river bank where there was a wooden platform jutting out into the water. A perfect spot to relax. After pushing our bikes back up the hill (doh) the rest of the ride from thence on was just hard work with one of us cycling in front for about 10kms each, with the other drafting, swap positions...repeat. Decize finally hove into view, and the riverside campsite was a gem. Celebrated cycling over 3,000kms.

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