Fog, Rain, and a Night in an Auditorium
To finish the story of our rest day, Curt made a reservation for us in a little back alley French restaurant that was quite small, seating a dozen people on the first floor. I had Gattolomont which turned out to be a crepe which was folded over ham, potatoes, and egg. It was quite good. The waitress and chef were quite entertaining, without speaking English.
The next morning we got up to fog and drizzle…a good day for ducks! The roads out of Chaumont had a bunch of roundabouts with inconsistent signs. Several of us stayed with the Australian rider with a Garman GPS. What a lifesaver! By the end of the day there would be riders scattered all over the country side because the road signs didn’t agree with the map. The GPS did have problems when we came to a bridge that was closed and had to do a cross country detour, but picked up the route when we got going.
I am sure the country side was beautiful, as we were riding through rolling hills and small farm villages. It didn’t make much difference in the fog. Six of us stopped for coffee, which is a small shot of espresso unless you can get the server to give you café Americana. After 20 minutes there were 20 bikers there.
After we got underway, the fog turned to drizzle, and 20 km out of camp it turned to rain. The group of six of us were some of the first in camp, which was a mowed cow pasture about two blocks from a school. Two of the staff women stet up canopies and had hot drinks and snacks for us when we arrived. They wanted us to get our tents pitched in the rain and get in our sleeping bags to warm up. We stood around for an hour in a torrential rain storm, after being on the road for eight hours, and only two tents were up. More bikers were coming in tired and cold. We found there were only four hotel rooms available in the whole town. After prodding by me and others, the staff was able to get the town to agree to let us spend the night in the school auditorium. The staff argued that we had signed up for an adventure and we needed to deal with the elements. I don’t think we were up to hypothermia. What a welcome relief to sleep on the stage floor…like my days from Biking Across Kansas. The last lost riders, Curt and Clare, came in at dinner time after being on the road lost for 12 hours. Dinner, by the way, was an excellent seafood medley over pasta. What a memorable day!
To finish the story of our rest day, Curt made a reservation for us in a little back alley French restaurant that was quite small, seating a dozen people on the first floor. I had Gattolomont which turned out to be a crepe which was folded over ham, potatoes, and egg. It was quite good. The waitress and chef were quite entertaining, without speaking English.
The next morning we got up to fog and drizzle…a good day for ducks! The roads out of Chaumont had a bunch of roundabouts with inconsistent signs. Several of us stayed with the Australian rider with a Garman GPS. What a lifesaver! By the end of the day there would be riders scattered all over the country side because the road signs didn’t agree with the map. The GPS did have problems when we came to a bridge that was closed and had to do a cross country detour, but picked up the route when we got going.
I am sure the country side was beautiful, as we were riding through rolling hills and small farm villages. It didn’t make much difference in the fog. Six of us stopped for coffee, which is a small shot of espresso unless you can get the server to give you café Americana. After 20 minutes there were 20 bikers there.
After we got underway, the fog turned to drizzle, and 20 km out of camp it turned to rain. The group of six of us were some of the first in camp, which was a mowed cow pasture about two blocks from a school. Two of the staff women stet up canopies and had hot drinks and snacks for us when we arrived. They wanted us to get our tents pitched in the rain and get in our sleeping bags to warm up. We stood around for an hour in a torrential rain storm, after being on the road for eight hours, and only two tents were up. More bikers were coming in tired and cold. We found there were only four hotel rooms available in the whole town. After prodding by me and others, the staff was able to get the town to agree to let us spend the night in the school auditorium. The staff argued that we had signed up for an adventure and we needed to deal with the elements. I don’t think we were up to hypothermia. What a welcome relief to sleep on the stage floor…like my days from Biking Across Kansas. The last lost riders, Curt and Clare, came in at dinner time after being on the road lost for 12 hours. Dinner, by the way, was an excellent seafood medley over pasta. What a memorable day!
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