Start: Saint Omer Finish: Peronne
Distance: 75miles Climb: 3,900ft Moving Time: 5:30 Average Speed: 14mph Max Speed: 41mph
Woke up after a solid eight hours and felt
pretty good. A huge breakfast (a tonnes of nutella) later and it was time to
go. I’d planned a 10am departure to make my way to Arras to meet Albert – but it
turned out I had a slow puncture overnight - and that both of our bike pumps were broken! A
bit of frantic internet research and some broken French led us Decathlon (the
world’s greatest shop). Where – as well as buying some new racing slick tyres –
we picked up a new pump and I got on my way.
The first 40miles to Arras flew by. After
some initial navigation out of Saint Omer – I hit an old Roman road – 30 miles
of straight road. Demoralisingly long and 'bumpy', but with incredible scenery, no cars and
glorious sunshine I was happy cruising along. The cyclist tan lines are coming
on a treat.
After a brief lunch near the train station –
Albert rolled into town about 3pm and we planned the next 35miles into Peronne.
Now Albert was a late call up to this trip – heroically stepping up to the
plate to keep me company when Jam found out he couldn’t join the full trip –
and arrives straight from a holiday in NY and having done very little training.
I was pretty nervous about the first day – hoping that the route provided a
good intro for him so that he wouldn’t regret the decision.
The first 5 miles out of Arras turned out
to be pretty terrible! We headed down the Route Nationale to get quick access
to the countryside – but it wasn’t a fun couple of miles, with a dodgy road
surface and heavy traffic. It wasn’t long though, until the side roads I was
hoping for came along – and we had a really pleasant 20 miles of single lane
riding with no cars – allowing us to cycle side by side and have a good catch
up. We’re travelling through the Somme – and most of the small sleepy villages
we passed through have memorials and small graveyards.
This is Albert’s first cycle trip – and I’d
sold it as hard work, followed by relaxed evenings at rustic guesthouses in rural villages.
However – today we find ourselves in a Travelodge next to a motorway outside of
Asseville. After a beautiful afternoon of cycling – we find ourselves staying
in an awful place!
However – the nearest town to our hotel is
named Albert – so we headed in for a nice dinner and photo opportunity before
retiring back to the hotel, absolutely shattered! Day 3 – another 75miler to
Chateaux Thierry - coming up!
The maps (and stats) of rides can be viewed through the Strava website - links to our most recent rides are on the right of this post ->
I told you these would probably get shorter and shorter...
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