Sunday dawns bright and sunny and continues pleasantly comfortable for the day – despite intermittent rain-drops all afternoon. Eighteen “Sou’ Westers” set off to up the climb away from the HQ in the town, shortly to become A & B groups of 3 and 15 respectively. We all agreed to meet at the HQ at 8am ready to leave asap and sadly Norman failed to leave the hotel early enough to ride with the groups, despite being one of the first down to breakfast.
Well done B team who kept together all day (well almost) at a comfortable pace, resting and waiting when required and stopping for coffee at Quiberville. A difference of opinion between the route sheet and the map in the HQ was settled when the painted arrows on the road agreed with the written instructions. However this year the 100km route seemed to have been waymarked by a man with a red spray can (marking the 140km and 200km routes and the 100km - where they coincided) as well as the man with the orange spray can for the 100km route only. By this time the confidence in the arrows led us to follow red arrows to the right where the printed route sheet actually indicated left, which ultimately led to some head scratching when we arrived at a T junction with a right turn and were faced with an orange arrow coming from the opposite direction and pointing to the left (our right). With a typical Gallic shrug we went right, back on the correct route.
Here Susie had a soft tyre and the group halted to pump it up before regrouping. As we homed in on the lunch spot - along the Avenue Vert at St Aubin le Caux - Susie’s stop to pump the tyre again went unnoticed by the group and we left her just as the valve tore from the tube and she could have done with help. Fortunately she was rescued by "three young lads" (all over 70!) and brought safely to the lunch stop, arriving just as the now refuelled group began to realise she was missing.
The group thinned again after lunch as 3 more peeled off, deciding to follow the ex-railway line that the Avenue Verte uses and head for home on the flat - while the rest headed up a long steady climb where Maggie punctured near the top, providing a relaxing stop for the group in the sunshine despite the drops of rain, while super-domestique Mark expertly fixed the puncture. This was a new Maggie, as we have never seen her on a solo before.
An afternoon stop on the easy run in to Dieppe was enjoyed by everyone and we checked in back at the HQ with plenty of time until the prize presentation. In the meantime we went our separate ways looking for a beer, an ice cream or a TV (to watch Bradley Wiggins secure his victory in the week-long Critérium du Dauphiné race which is seen as the precursor to the Tour de France each year – like Queens is to Wimbledon). Or all three!
The prize presentation saw the Sou’Westers called up a number of times: firstly we received the trophy for the most attenders – 21, Eric Ashford was awarded a trophy for being the “plus moins jeune” male rider at the shorter distances, Irene received “a crap trophy” for the same as a female rider at the 100km distance and would have cheerfully left it behind in the hall. Rob and Ruth received an award for completing the ride on tandem and the group also received a trophy for 2nd or 3rd (the announcements were a bit hazy at times) at the number of kilometres covered .
Once again we enjoyed an excellent – if nouvelle cuisine – meal at the Windsor Hotel on the Sunday night to round off the weekend, with many of the group carousing well into the night.
When we booked from the English side of things there was no indication of a Mountain Bike route in addition to the other distances, but the green arrows marked VTT (Velos Touts Terrains) leading up some interesting hillsides were evidence that there was an MTB ride.
Participants:
Pete & Lisa, Lynda, Liz, Susie, Rob & Ruth, Mark & Maggie, TonyH, Pam, Irene, Beatie, Cliff & Maureen, Brian, Simon, Ray, Eric, Norman
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