My Tour de France Race
France Stage 14 – Pontivy to Carhaix 63 Km (Sat 23 June 2018)
Weather: 12⁰C min – 22⁰C max, clear and sunny
“Life looks better when you are on a bicycle.” ~ Unknown
When bike touring every day is a new adventure, you never know what to expect. Little did I know when I set off from Pontivy what was in store for me.
Sailing along merrily enjoying the rural scenery, it was at the 13 Km mark I was faced with a dreaded Route Baree sign warning that the road was closed 9 Km away. Looking at the map on my Garmin I came to the conclusion that there was no simple detour. Should I proceed and be faced with having to return to where I am now? I decided to take my chances, after all I can always wheel my bike around the section that is closed.
Exactly 9 Km further on there was a barrier across the road and a yellow-jacketed official explaining that the road was closed because of a cycling event, which turned out to be La PLB Muco. Sensibly, he allowed me to continue in the direction I was headed provided I stuck to la gauche (the left hand side of the road). What a reasonable fellow!
Soon there were peletons of cyclists whizzing past me, as I found myself in a race with 7,000 others. Spectators were clapping, cheering, and calling bravo, until they saw my panniers and realised I was a touriste, then their vocal support turned to laughter. I hammed it up a bit, putting my head down and pretending I was competing.
Soon the road narrowed and the packs became bigger. Not wanting to cause a pile-up, whenever I heard the whirring of wheels and clicking of gears behind me I would pull off the road until the pack had passed. No chance of a 72 year old on a touring bike keeping up with these lads!
This continued for another 15 Km until I reached the finish line and was greeted with a drum-roll and lots of applause. It was impossible not to get caught up in the excitement; this is the nearest I will ever get to participating in the Tour de France!
It was such a relief to turn down a quiet road, riding solo again. Alas, it didn’t last long because 6 Km further on the road was blocked again for another bike race. This time the steward was more officious. No way he was going to allow me to pass, so I had to turn around and ride back about 5 Km until I was able to get onto the Nantes à Brest canal, which I followed for about 10 Km until joining my original route again.
With all the excitement I hadn’t appreciated just how attractive the scenery was today … until I looked at my photos later. All in all this has been an incredible day of riding in France.
To top off a good day I found a great little restaurant. I was tempted by the filet de kangourou but I wondered how fresh it would be coming all the way from Australia. Fancy the French eating our national emblem!
