Bike tour Day 30

The day started with a plentiful breakfast selection, including sausage and boiled egg, by French standards. That was good.

The motto of the day was to take the shortest route possible by bike towards Paris. From Orleans, it was a well-developed bike path alongside a main road. Then I cycled through the Forest of Orleans, the largest state forest in France. Unfortunately, it was only about 10 km long for me. The quality of the path was good, and the trees provided good sun and wind protection.

Then came a straight stretch of about 40 km on a country road with no towns, no trees, regular car traffic, lots of sun, occasional strong headwind, and only one cyclist (me). I actually had to leave the inviting route for lunch. But at least there was a pizzeria open. The last 10 km were more tolerable. An audiobook helped me through the "dry spell".

When I checked into the hotel and was unloading my luggage, a small group of cyclists arrived. They responded to my "Bon jour" with a nod, which was probably because they are from NRW and are on a short vacation here.

26-05-2017

Distance traveled: 76.79 km

Total travel time: 4:49:58 h

Average speed: 15.9 km/h

Max. speed: 38.8 km/h

Total altitude climbed: 168 m

Overnight stay in Etampes