STAGE 5 (Day 7): Chaumont to Lamarche-sur-Saône

A day of two halves

Distance:    80 miles

Climb:        2270 feet  

 

The first half of today's challenge is uphill, the second half downhill. Still following the Champagne-Burgundy Canal we part company with the waterway as it disappears into the three-mile tunnel, leaving us to take the higher ground and cross from one wine region into another.

FUN FACT: The high point is Langres at an altitude of 500m on top of the rocky spur of a plateau where several rivers originate: the Seine, the Aube, the Meuse and the Marne. Reknown for his catchphrase "it's all downhill from here" means – for the first time – Paul is factually correct from that point onwards...but he hadn't factored in a strong headwind!

DAILY DEBRIEF: 

If you can have a hump day with even numbers, this was it. After having schlepped up and down the hill, Paul and Richard set off from Chaumont for one of the shortest stages in the journey.

Throughout the day we were buffeted by Dutch Hills (for the uninitiated, this means headwinds). Fortunately our riding is now showing as much synchronisation as the wing of a woman’s prison.

Today’s route would be a combination paths, trails and roads, as well as a little bit of muddy grass at the end.

Our team meteorologist had determined that there was only a very low chance of rain on the ride, which turned out to be an excellent forecast. At times the sun made brief appearances before disappearing once more behind clouds. However, temperatures rose steadily throughout the day allowing us to dispense eventually with both gilets and sleeves.

Travelling along waterways offers the opportunity to see the craft that work their way along the channels. It’s always interesting to see what people name their vessels. Today’s names included the Happy Floater, Le Boat and Le Vag II, the latter of which must surely mean something different in the mother tongue of our host nation.

When you’ve mostly been riding on the flat, a hill can be somewhat of a surprise. Although our visit to the hill town of Langres was planned, and there’s a clue in its location, the climb of 15% plus for a significant part of the mile was still a challenge.

Langres is the birthplace of Denis Diderot, France’s equivalent of Samuel Johnson, the author of the first French dictionary. It’s also a very pretty town and proved to be a good place for the four of us to meet for a coffee in one of the squares at the aptly named Café Diderot.

Sensibly, the support team had chosen to take the funicular up to the town and so were somewhat fresher than Richard and Paul.

There is a perhaps apocryphal story that George W Bush said: “The problem with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur”. True or not, a few entrepreneurial café owners along our route would be most welcome.

Relocating our lunch stop from what turned out to be an incredibly windy lakeside to a pretty hamlet by a bridge and lavoir was a successful decision. Once again, the support crew provided excellent sustenance for the riders.

There’s often concern in the media and on Countryfile about the apparent disappearance of insects from the UK. We can report that they're all well and living in France! Richard’s orange gilet was particularly attractive to the wee beasties, and protein intake during his ride was significant.

Moving into the Côte d’Or department thoughts turned to ice cream and chocolate, neither of which were available. We’re also still not sure where the coast is in this particular department. What is clear is that they haven’t wasted any money on creating easily cycled surfaces.

Paul equalised the puncture score when a little prick caused him to suffer that deflating feeling.

The constant vibration has certainly taken its toll on the more tender parts of our anatomy. If any chamois cream brands happen to be reading this blog, we’re very open to sponsorship in kind and will be very happy to rub it on ourselves.

Glad to see the end of the day’s riding and now halfway through our French stages, we arrived in Lamarche-sur-Saône. With our respective accommodation literally a stone’s throw apart, we looked forward to dinner Chez Franck, Richard and Teresa‘s host, who was very keen to show them the variously coloured eggs freshly laid by his hens.

So all that lies between us and the completion of this challenge is five stages of over 100 miles each!

A reminder of why we're doing this

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care provides FREE services and support to ensure patients and families living with an advanced or terminal illness can make the most of their lives…because every day is precious!

Each penny or cent pledged is donated to the hospice to help fund the very best in end-of-life care. See our JustGiving page.