Veronica 8

Ussel to Mauriac

Four preconceptions of the journey
- the route through the gorge of Dordogne would be  very taxing
- the weather would be  hot
- the water at the hotel was so awful that our morning tea thermos would be undrinkable
- Mauriac being built on the side of an ancient volcano ( think Taranaki)  would make it a    steep climb at the end.
Four facts about the journey
- there were climbs but not too  bad and the descents were long, long, long and fantastic
- it was overcast and cool, almost too cool on the longest descent
- the tea tasted fine with the 4 sugar lumps I had pocketed at breakfast!
- nothing like Mt Taranaki

Mauriac to  Aurillac

It was a clear blue sky today. We were soon in pretty country.  Wonderful down hill and grunting uphill (me).

My leader doesn't even break into a sweat.   Lots of trees, steep paddocks and cattle.  Here they have bells on so riding  along you hear them,  all different tones.  In Mauriac yesterday we saw a shop which sold only cow bells. All sizes. I wonder if there is a bovine hierarchy ?  'My bell is bigger than your bell'.
I will leave Willem to describe the rest of the ride.  I will just say that by lunch time I was
'afgeknoedeld'!  That is a Dutch word and more polite than many I could use in English.
It was a nice  surprise to get here to our hotel by 3pm.

 We had a beer, shopped for tomorrow and now are showered and relaxing. Willem hoping to find football on TV.    Yesterday we became engrossed in the  Pétanque Masters which was being played somewhere in the South of France.  We were delighted to get back from dinner in time to watch the final which was won by a team from Madagascar.   Amazing accuracy,such skill.

Aurillac

I made a big decision overnight.  Yesterday's big hill was hard though I made it and recovered well. However I am now concerned about being  on a road somewhere in the mountains and not able to cope if we get several like that in a day. When we started this journey the idea was to have folding bikes so that if I wanted to, we could get a train or hire a car.   We are now in a town with both a train
station and rental cars and the temptation to call it a day is too much. We are disappointed  but am sure it is the right thing to do.

The experience has been fantastic. I have challenged my body more than ever before in it's 67 years.   Willem has been great, taking on a novice biker, coaching me along and supporting my decision to stop.