Day Three

St Nicholas des Eaux to Guipry

85 miles 2123 ft climbed

Today was again expected to be hot, very hot. However as we left the campsite the sky grew dark and the weather apps predicted 90 minutes of rain, some of it very hard. Nick for once being cautious put on his rain jacket. Whilst the sky remained overcast and we could see some rain, we got away with four drops so Nick was able to pack his mack away.

The clouds cleared by midday and the temperature began to rise. Nick reckoned it was even hotter than yesterday and his Garmin did register 41.6 degrees whilst we were actually cycling along. Certainly you could feel the heat ( that felt like opening an oven door) coming off the wheat fields whenever we broke free of any tree cover. We did stop every 10 miles or so to rest and drink.

The first part of the route ran along the towpath of the river Blavet which we followed up from our campsite as far as Pontivy. Much of Pontivy was cordoned off for a celebration later in the day but as usual there was no one around although it was already 9 on Saturday morning.

After Pontivy we left the river and had a ten mile blast over to the next river valley the Oust at Rohan. Having been shouted on by some locals as we went through Rohan we then joined the next towpath alongside this river.

The coffee and croissant stop was a few miles along this towpath

A fairly swift coffee stop was had – the camper crew having made the compulsory Lidl visit to replenish supplies.

Returning to the towpath we encountered a large family group which we had to negotiate before passing through. The towpath took us into the attractive town of Josselin. Here we took a detour into the town. Luckily it was market day and in addition to getting our passports stamped I managed to buy some fresh strawberries which only lasted until lunchtime.

By now the temperature was beginning to rise. Leaving Josselin we came across a mobilette rally. It takes all sorts!

We continued alongside the river for several miles before switching from river cycling to railway greenway cycling

After we left Ploermel we found Nigel on his bike ready to show us the way to our lunch stop. Sadly we don’t have photographic evidence but I can confirm that he cycled 5 miles out to meet us and the five miles back.

Our final leg was easily the hottest but luckily we were mostly on the railway in mottled shade with only a few sections in full sunshine.

A brief detour to this watermill ( of the white ass) surprised us as it was fully open but was not vandalised in any way. cycling along these greenways has been great. The only annoyance being that we have had to cross roads every now and again. We reckon that of around 60 crossings we only had to stop twice for traffic so we ( usually Nick ) just said usual to indicate it was good to go.

Our final stop before a short ride to our campsite was to the Manoir de l’automobile at Loheac which is also the biggest Rallycross circuit in France and has good links with Nigel’s local circuit at Lydden.

We had a quick walk round the huge museum which not only had a mix of competition cars but also an eclectic mix of wagons and other memorabilia. Leaving the museum was a brief 5 mile ride to our campsite.

Nick has been saying that we have not seen much wildlife. Perhaps it’s true that the wild beasts are more sensible than the mad English cyclists in this hot weather.

Having said that we did see a magnificent pine marten yesterday and we have been constantly harassed by chiffchaffs and chaffinches as well as some close calls with buzzards flying under the trees. The dry weather has also encouraged many butterflies some of whom we’ve had close encounter.

Cheeky chaffinch under our table.

Dinner tonight was Spaghetti Bol. Nigel was good enough to clean our bikes ( Thank you Nigel, beyond the call of duty) and once again I am writing this outside. Storms are possible again tomorrow and Gill has decided to leave the crew to attend to crisis at home.

Slightly weary signing off for the night.