Cognac-la-Foret, France

Day Twenty-Six 116 miles 7071 ft

Today was meant to be a slightly long day at 105 miles, but as we have found Garmin distance calculations are often optimistic. Having started at just after 8 soon after the 7.36  sunrise, I had not bargained on a finish 2 minutes after sunset at 8.09. 

Leaving our non campsite on a track behind the closed campsite early and traversing a very quiet Issoudun , the first stint was the worst of the tour so far, 25 miles of featureless farmland with that incessant wind now blowing for 5 days making cycling a real chore and not at all fun. 

It took over 2 hours to do that first 25 miles, the only plus being that it stayed dry. 

A longer coffee stop (as I was not keen to get going) then back out. Within five minutes, the rain started and like yesterday it came down in buckets. During this stint Nigel turned round to ask if I wanted my full waterproof jacket, but it was too late for that anyway. 

It was just afterwards that I heard some shouts and encouragement from the side of the road as Nigel had stopped to talk to two Dutch cyclists who were sheltering in a bus stop. They were crossing France supported by their wives who were driving, but unlike me sensibly got out of the weather as their schedule was less demanding at only 100k a day rather than the 160-190k I am doing. 

A quick stop to cycle round the impressive and Tonbridge Castle like ruins of Cluis-dessous.  (Lower)

  
 The heavens opened again just as I moved into the main village of Cluis-dessus (upper). Wanting to check the map in shelter there was a large covered market In the town square so I moved under its shelter to see two cyclo tourists already there. 

James & Ben had left London about 10 days ago and were heading to Lisbon to catch a boat (any boat) to South America. Ben to learn Spanish and James as possibly the first part of a 3 year world tour. They were hiding to keep dry and order up on Amazon some essential cycle kit they had forgotten or not realised they needed. 

I wished them good luck and told them to seek out Nigel’s dad’s boat yard in Joao Pessoa if that’s where they end up!

It rained hard for at least two hours of this two and a half hour segment and whilst the wind was still blowing the landscape had changed with far more trees and shelter to make the cycling better even if there were more hills.  

 We had passed into the Limousin region and it was also noticeable that there were the odd British and Dutch cars about, no doubt belonging to ex-pats living locally.    

Lunch was taken just short of La Souterraine with still 60 long miles to go and it was already almost 3pm.   This was the crossing of the Creuse. 

 After a couple of brief showers early on the rain stayed away but the hills got a bit bigger with the wind blowing as soon as any cover was lost. 

However I made the prearranged tea spot at 5.45 with still 25 miles to go to the campsite, which was definitely still open. 

Having wild camped a lot, Monica understandably was fed up with boys own adventure book stuff and was keen to get to the site, even if only to use the wifi!

Leaving just under two hours to complete the planned ride and knowing that there were several big hills to enjoy, we agreed that as the weather was the best it had been all day I would crack on, and that if it got too dark, I would call Nigel, who would pick me up from wherever and deposit me back at the same place tomorrow if need be.  

 Suffice to say this was a good incentive to wake up some pretty tired legs and I enjoyed some long downhill sweeps for a couple of miles before having to climb back up the other side of the river valley at least twice  and running through some pretty villages en route. 

As I crossed the Vienne river with just 5 miles to go the sun was close to setting,  peeping out behind the clouds and then lighting them up once I got to the top of the valley side where a herd of small deer bounced in Gazelle fashion into the shelter of the woods.  

 Reaching the campsite when I did, gave me 10 minutes to get showered for a hearty plate of spag bol. 

Interestingly today,  although getting  more tired, each segment of the ride was faster, showing the effect that the wind has is greater than that of the hills. 

Please keep the encouragement going – it has been really tough cycling so far this week, easily the hardest of the tour so far 

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