Day 10 - Aubusson to Neuvic (95km, 1,180m)

Monday, May 26th, 2014

 

Route Map and Garmin Ride Statistics


The view from my hotel room at 7:00am didn't look good. We were all hoping that the forecast rain would hold off, or even disappear completely, but no - this always looked as if it would be the worst day of the ride, weather-wise.

Not only was rain forecast, but also an occasional thunderstorm. It was also cool, with a forecast maximum of only 11°C. All of my wet and cold weather gear came out, some for the first time since we left home - arm warmers, leg warmers, two jerseys and a spray jacket. I even had a shower cap from the hotel bathroom covering my helmet. Do I look apprehensive?

After the first climb of the day, we arrived at the pretty village of Felletin. We probably missed the main street (with cafe, if it had one), but we weren't ready to stop - it was still drizzling and we needed to make more progress.

As the others rode away, I tried to take a few more pictures for this blog - it's often a danger to get left  behind, even if only for one's pride.

The following picture is included only because we've seen so many cattle, brown and white, that they deserve a mention. They're probably also saying "who are these idiots, anyway?".

Such a typical scene - so typical that one often forgets to photograph it. I also forgot to photograph the various donkeys (mules?!) we saw during the past few days. Fortunately, Californian Gary did not! Hee haw.

At dinner tonight, the most comment view of today's ride was that it would have been the prettiest if it weren't for the rain. Even then, we all appreciated it.

We left Tony D momentarily while he put his jacket back on - it seemed to be one of the stories of the morning - jacket on, jacket off, jacket on...

There aren't as many strange place names in France as there are in the UK (or Australia), at least if you don't speak French. But I saw this one coming for miles away. Here's Tony D, Trevor and Noreen (who had joined our little peloton for the first somewhere along today's ride).

By 1:30pm, and after a few hours of relatively dry weather, we decided to stop for lunch even though there were only 20km or so to go. This little bar deserved more than the delicious baguette with am and cheese that I understanding.

Even with only 20km to go we weren't over the worst of the rain. It started again at the top of the last climb, then got seriously heavy on the way down. So much so that we had to stop and find shelter. There's no picture, unfortunately, but six of us managed to get into a barn beside a petrol station and keep dry for 10 minutes while the thunder (!) storm passed.

Here's Trevor and Noreen somewhere before, or after (I can't remember) the thunder storm hit.

We arrived at the Hotel du Lac (beside a pretty lake) just before 3:00pm and were very grateful for excellent rooms, all with lake views. They also had working radiator heaters, and towel heaters in the bathrooms. My sodden clothes are now almost dry.

The hotel is run by an English mother and daughter team. Mother appears to run the hotel, and disappeared once we were all settled. Daughter runs the nearby bar and restaurant where we were booked in for dinner. Unfortunately, neither the hotel nor the bar/restaurant were "manned" between 3:00pm and 6:00pm! There were a lot of lost souls looking for a beer, or anything, during this time.

Then the rain started again, and became as heavy as we had seen all day.

By 6:00pm the bar had opened, and word had gotten around - everyone was there with a drink and feeling much happier.

And a Cocker Spaniel sat on a bar stool deciding who were the soft touches during dinner.

For the first time on this trip we all ate as a group, campers and hotel stayers alike. We hoteliers even felt sorry for the campers who had yet to pitch their tents, so bad was the rain before dinner. And the spaniel spent the evening passing under the table and chairs collecting treats.