STAGE 6 (Day 8): Lamarche-sur-Saône to Creches-sur-Saône

Sidling along the Saône

Distance:    101 miles

Climb:        538 feet  

The first of five consecutive +100-miler rides, but the profile is one that every cyclist loves: downhill all the way to our endpoint just south of Mâcon...headwind willing.

FUN FACT: Mâcon gave its name to local vineyards and wine appellation, and is twinned with two Cheshire towns: Crewe and Nantwich.

DAILY DEBRIEF: Toxic Catfish and Soggy Bottoms

Before we discuss today’s ride, we need to talk about last night (minds out of the gutter please).

Unlike our LEJOG ride two years ago, we don’t have any scheduled meet-ups and stops with friends along the way. This time encounters are unscheduled and, to date, fewer: but last night’s was the nec plus ultra.

Richard and Teresa’s hosts, Franck and Stefanie, offered the four of us a reasonably priced home-cooked dinner. So with Jacqui and Paul making the short walk from their aire de camping-car, we joined our hosts for dinner.

With the help of a superior bottle of Nuit St George the evening got off to a convivial start. Jacqui’s good conversational French and Richard’s infantile French meant conversation was able to flow along with the wine.

To the food! Garden-fresh cherry tomatoes, dipped in honey and peanuts, accompanied by rillette, got things off to a great start.

Franck explained that much of his food was either grown in the garden, foraged or caught locally. So it turned out for our main course (look away now vegetarians), Franck had shot, butchered and then cooked us wild boar. Along with homegrown potatoes and Dijon mustard, a genuine taste sensation. 

Hard to top but dessert gave it a run for its money. The multi-coloured eggs mentioned in yesterday’s blog were put to good use in a cherry custard tart. So what you may ask? Well yes the cherries were from the garden, but it’s the harvest that made them special. While Franck drives his digger, Stefanie climbs into the bucket out front and is lifted to the treetops to pick the ripe fruit. Even the cherry picker was homemade.

Franck, a very keen angler, then explained how overgrown catfish were damaging the river ecosystem. His explanation included photos of the two-metre-plus river monsters. Apparently catfish are excellent absorbers of mercury and, while ineffective as barometers, they are toxic.

So to today’s ride. Another imperial ton in prospect. If a lot of a long ride is in the head, after seven days riding perhaps more is in the arse.

Our friend the headwind came along for the ride again. It’s quite a feeling to be down on the drops pedalling like mad and just touching 12.5 mph. So after 20 miles an auberge failed to carry off its impression of being closed and we nabbed a much-needed coffee.

Far more road riding today after the route master made some excellent alterations. The changes meant our ride was only 101 miles rather than 106.

Just when you feel a little self-satisfied with how you are going and the money you are raising, something or someone comes along to put you back in your box. That’s what happened today when we encountered a man unicycling his way along the route. He explained that he was only going 80 km today but had previously done 120 km on his ride from Freiburg to Lyon.

After what seemed like a very long first half (a bit like watching Reading FC) we regrouped with the support crew by a small espace de spectacle. There were many more cyclists today, with many travelling fully laden with kit - luckily we are not.

Paul made it two in two as he took the lead on the puncture count. 

We broke our afternoon ride with a short climb up to the medieval town of Tornus for double espressos and full-fat cokes as fatigue needed addressing. We also almost cycled into a funeral cortege depositing mortal remains at the door of the hilltop church.

The team meteorologist was accurate again today. Unfortunately, this meant we got very wet and filthy as storms hit us. At least it meant the wind dropped! By the end of the storm we were wetter than the pockets of an otter’s full outfit.

We swapped places repeatedly with a French couple, towing and carrying luggage, until the husband realised he had dropped his wife whilst getting a draft from us. He sensibly stopped to wait.

Crisscrossing the Saône river we reached the town of Mâcon (some of you may be familiar with their wine) and pushed on to our campsite for the night - a pretty location on the riverbank. Our support crew arrived before us to thunder, lightning and torrential downpours. 

A much-anticipated rest day tomorrow, as long as we are not washed away in the night.

By the way, we are now level with Geneva.

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.