We decided to move on tomorrow so this started as a day shopping for some essential supplies and filling the car with some essential diesel. Our range on a full tank is about 250 miles and we like to keep our hops around to France to within that limit ‘cos it easier to negotiate filling stations without the added complexity of a caravan strapped on the back. Filling up solo means that we can fill up on cheap supermarché fuel rather than the top-dollar autoroute fuel.
Our morning of chores also gave the cloud cover a chance to begin breaking up but break up it did and to work of a lunch of rilletes (potted pork) and bread, we set off on another bike ride round what is, for us, a little-used track taking in Fontaines-en-Sologne. “I don’t want to do another 34 miles”, said Carol. The track she had chosen was certainly considerably shorter at about 26kms/15mls but we had to do about 8kms/5mls each way to get to it to start with. Go figure!
As is the case with most of the routes in this area it was very varied and proved to be a great way to spend the remaining afternoon. Fontaines-en-Sologne is a small town (large village?) with a huge monolith of a church stuck in the middle of what is essentially the town’s roundabout. Were the roads busy, the congregation would most certainly need the protection of The Almighty to make it safely to and from services. Fortunately, the roads are very quiet and examples of congregational road-kill seem mercifully few and far between.
By the time we’d returned we’d completed another 30 miles. We’ve now spent three days cycling what are, for us, considered to be reasonably energetic distances of 23, 34 and 30 miles. Both our legs and backsides know that they’ve done some exercise. It is notable that our three days effort add up to little more than half the distance covered in a single day’s stage distance in the Tour de France. Bravo to those guys!
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