Going mad?

Fire hydrant like a face? BTW i am at Esnades mot Charron...thats where campsite is! Lucky as Charron was crappy...off to find dinner.

I got it up

Knee by the sea

Ok so it wouldnt be me if i didnt moan about my knee. The morning was hilly and any serious inclines resulted in a wincing pain in my knee. But the afternoon was flat and no knee pain! I think credit crunch has hit this region hard as they appear to have sold all road signs. Every road junction was a guess...as i got here must be v lucky ;-)
Roadkill today:
Hawk :-(
sparrow
wafer thin hedgehog

FINALLY: Happy bday ju! Sorry cant be there xx

Sights of the day

Vineyards nr Saumur and exit of Argenton sur valees

200 mile mark!

Absolutely baking here. On the verge of burning (with cream). I tried to cut down on baguette today as it appeared to have a side effect that has added significant baggage ;-) This morning Saumur was not keen to let me go and it took about an hour to get going in the right direction! But ace morning on flat roads past vineyards. My Lunch stop gave me a taste of what the afternoon was to bring. A hilly climb to Argenton sur vallee followed by descent on to valley. Up down up down.... For anyone interested todays roadkill:
sparrow
crow
black(!) squirrel
BTW nothing except a caterpillar yesterday (me-sorry vic)

Chickens

Vic - it appears that chickens in france get bullied too. Only a bit worse.

Sunny Saumur

Cracking sunny day with some brutal wind. I made my first french friend! Jean-Claude (no really) escorted me through a large town called La Flesch. He was a dude...and ran the cycling club of the area. He showed me to a secret vois vert-cycling path that keeps you off the main roads. An awesome baguette/cheese/carrot thingy(see photo). Otherwise pleasant quiet ride beside the Loire river. Got to Saumur and decided 55 miles cycling was not enough and 3 mile walk to castle was in order. Oh and my butt hurts like hell so should be interesting 70 miles tomorrow :-S