What an amazing day of cycling. Knocked off 110Km, may be the lighter load now that I have sent off more stuff to A. I was full of energy, could have been the lentils and grapes etc as well. Weather was perfect, cloudy with bursts of sunshine. Had the music on full blast and as I flew through hay fields, three incredibly bouncy deer bopped around and stared at me from a great distance. Unending fields and unbroken countryside with so much space. As ever, I followed my old friend the Canal Entre Champagne and Bourgogne in sections and stopped and actually witnessed a barge at a lock with a Renault car hanging precariously off the back.
A short distance outside of Langres I passed through Chassigny, a typically small, shut, unexciting town except for the fact that a Martian meteorite landed here back in 1815. A short while after that, another village of Montigny Mornay Villeneuve with its statue to remember local citizens who died in WWI
Views were scenic and lovely and I quickly got to my destination of Gray and decided to push on the extra 55K to Besancon. Get it out the way, I just want to get on the Eurovelo route and change my front tyre for a Schwalbe if possible. The road to enter Besancon was awful and I just kept my head down. I missed a vital turning, meaning that I had to climb a huge hill in heavy traffic, only to come back down it again. As I correctly approached Besançon, the heavens opened although I managed to shelter whist they did so. I looked at the forecast and it was so shit, I decided to just book a hotel room nearby.
It was a weird place, on the outskirts of town in amongst a bunch of medical facilities and a hospital. But it was clean, had a kitchenette and I was so knackered, that I lay down on the bed, and decided to book another day. I figured I wanted to check out the bike shop and get a new front tyre, also send off my cleat shoes and a guidebook to A. Even lighter on my bike now! Found a supermarket, bought beers and sat in all night. I knew I would be knackered, but glad I made it here as this is on the EV6 route.
I have begun to realise the importance of food. I can no longer be bothered with creating nice new things. I just need fuel and lots of it. I am spending a lot on the stuff. In fact, I have spent about £900 so far and I haven't even been to Switzerland yet!
The room is nice enough, with a view out over some big hills which reminds me of the Avila mountains in Caracas. I emailed an old friend who lived somewhere in Switzerland to say that I would be possibly be passing near to her place and I could drop by to say Hi if she was in town. Not entirely sure where she lives but it would be lovely to see her again.
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