Day 40 - More Parc. More Hills. More Rain

It is Sunday, lots of things closed or close early, so we went straight to the village Boulangerie. 

Good thing we did as the line up was out the door... But we got our favourites, and some groceries and got on our way. 

First turn down a gravel road and a car was in our way. The car driver apologized and then asked, curiously, and a bit incredulously, are you taking this road?  And he made a 😳 face and made a motion with his hands that looked like a lot of hills. We thanked him for moving and innocently went on our way. The next few kilometers were an adventure! Rocks and mud, wet leaves and some tough little hills. By the time we saw pavement we needed to stop and clean our shoes, and catch our breath, and we had only done 3k 😂. It was like a mini Paris-to-Ancaster race. 

As it turns out, that was not the tough part of the day. Just down the road we turned onto a park road and started to climb.

Thankfully it was not too hot, but it was humid and that takes a toll. It was too steep to grab a drink so I had to stop part way and rehydrate (and remove my glasses, they were all fogged up).  Well, I just couldn't get started again. I needed a runner. Marc came back and helped. Huge help. Did not want to walk that second half. 

I headed up the hill, slowly.  Two other cyclists came up behind Marc, on mountain bikes, no luggage, and they offered to start him, so he got a rolling start too, and then they disappeared into the woods. I didn't actually see them. Do you think they were real? 

The rest of the ride was pretty, a lake, a picnic lunch, some cows. 

And then into Saulieu. We almost stopped to explore the town but decided to get the tent up first. Good thing we did because the clouds rolled in and the thunderstorm started. The temperature dropped several degrees, quickly, and the skies are grumbling. 

Stats for the day: slow and steady through the mud and up the hills (average 11) and then some really nice safe smooth descents (max 50). 

 

Thanks for sharing our Parc adventures. Tomorrow we will leave the Parc and head for the Saone River which will take us down Lyon. 

Thanks for your comments.