Steve P takes it easy

A couple of days after the triathlon in St Neots (see “Success for SNCC at St Neots NiceTri Sprint Triathlon”), Sarah, Billy and I boarded the Euro Tunnel for France at the start of a 400 mile journey South.  The occasion was the 25th wedding anniversary of friends who had rented the absolutely fantastic Chateau du Chiron, a renovated former hunting lodge, just North of Le Dorat in the Haut Limousin between Poitiers and Limoges.  Not wanting to miss too many days out of the IronMan training program, I put the cycle carrier on the car and took the bike.

Sarah and Billy in Montmorillion                   Showing the SNCC colours in France

Over the next 4 days, in between the sight-seeing, shopping trips, dog walking, general socializing, lazy lunches, black tie dinner parties, and the 60 plus bottles of wine and champagne we got through, I did manage to get a couple of rides in.  Although the weather wasn’t great, the cycling was a dream. Unlike the potholed roads of Beds and Cambs, the French roads were like lino and completely devoid of traffic. Even when you did chance upon a voiture they slowed down, gave you plenty of room and even waved.

    They spelt my name wrong!                                                                               Roads like lino and not a voiture in sight

The first ride was a 65 mile route that took me east and north of Le Dorat through Magnac-Laval (where we had to take Billy to get his Pet Passport stamped by the vet), St Leger-Magnazeix, Lussac Les Eglises and on to Montmorillion or La Cité de l'écrit (City of Writing) – not quite Hay on Wye. In keeping with my French heritage I also stopped off in my name-sake village of Plaisance (Old French “to please”).   The second day was a shorter 47 mile circular route centered on Bellac, taking in the quiet villages of Bursiere-Poitevine, Mortemart (very pretty), Blond, etc.  The weather wasn’t brilliant, overcast with a steady breeze, but I prefer it cool and the roads we just lovely! We’re off to France again in August, a little further South to the Dordogne, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to take the bike again.