Bike Trip Day 2

Day 2 – Tues June 5.

Interesting day – a variety of scenery and terrain, rural and urban.  We crossed and re-crossed the Rhone, sometimes on top of dams.  My front tire went almost flat during the day just outside a small toen north of Montelimar .  We had aerosol cans with sealant with us for such an occurrence and it worked well.  The tire continued to leak slowly, but there was enough left in my aerosol to manage the problem for the rest of the trip.  While the repair was going on, a young German man on a bike stopped to see if we needed help.  He spoke English and chatted with us for a while.  He was biking from Germany to Marseille, where his girlfriend would pick him up. 

Typical Finished Path Section

South of Tain L’Hermitage we found ourselves in a village on an island called la Roche de Glun.  Thanks to Tony, we did not settle for lunch at an ordinary brasserie, but looked around a bit and found an auberge called Pere Monet where we had a fabulous meal, with two [probably too many] carafes of an excellent local red, all eaten outside under the trees.  I believe we all had the shoulder of pork with a great sauce and accompanying potatoes, dessert, and coffee.  Total cost: 24 Euros each!

Roughing it with Roger and David at Lunch

After lunch we continued down the island, crossed to the left bank north of Valence, a good-sized small city.  Here we lost our way a bit and had an unplanned tour of the town.  We managed to get back on track and crossed the Rhone again, pedaling down the river to Charmes-sur-Rhone, where we found a very nice air-conditioned, up-to-date hotel called La Carre d’Altheius.  Our bikes were placed in a locked conference room for the night.  After cleaning up and changing clothes, we walked down to a campground by the river and had a carafe of red wine, before heading back to town to find a restaurant.  The hotel restaurant being booked, we had a pleasant dinner with some Crozes-Hermitage, in a small place on the main street.

Distance ridden by the maps – about 63 km.