Day 2 Rang du Fliers to Amiens Est

The day started well enough. I had an excellent Mr Bed breakfast and left promptly at 8 with the receptionist promising to look at my blog and wiching me “bonne route” and “bon courage”. The look on the faces of the mainly holiday makers at breakfast as I wheeled my bike through the reception area was a picture that I wish I was able to show you. From Mars? No from Scotland.

The rain started as I left Rang du fliers and continued for most of the day. Today’s route was mostly following the route of an old roman road from Amiens to the coast la Chausee Brunehaut. The problem with Roman roads is that they are unerringly straight which means that they go over hills rather than round them and the traffic is fast and less willing to stop for cyclists.

The second lesson that I learned is that when the road is not marked on the map that is because the road stops and mud and potholes begin. I can’t blame Via Michelin which routed me away but I saw some nice windmills on the nice straight Roman road.
As you can see it was mountain bike territory. I listen to Mr Via Michelin next time.

The problem with the quieter is that they are quieter – no boulangeries, no cafes or restaurants. So when a caffeine hit is required some judicious map reading and guesswork are required. I landed in Crecy Pontieu the site of the battle of Crecy in 13 whenever. It was raining hard and the tourist were certainly not in the café. I enjoyed a welcome break from the weather and a rather expensive (€2.30 ) but lovely large coffee and a chat with “le patron”

It took me a while to work my way back on the documented route through very rural France. Roulant doesn’t adequately describe it, I was into the “granny gear” every second hill and reaching 50 km/hr down the other side. After a particularly long climb into Vignacourt my empty water bottles and I needed to be replenished. The Café du Sports seemed to fit the bill. I was welcomed in and served a very nice lunch by the owners who ran a café/bar/restaurant/tabac/depot du pain/ children’s meeting place. When I asked the ages of her children Mme said that only one was her 7 year old son and the other four were his friends who always seemed to gather there. Unfortunately the picture has not come out too well.

My last mistake was to try to go through the centre of Amiens rather than round it as Via Michelin suggested. I was rewarded by a very cycle friendly city centre and the magnificent cathedral but it was almost impossible to find the route out the other side. There are signs aplenty to “centre ville” but none to the outskirts. However I eventually found someone who wasn’t a tourist who gave me good general directions back on to my planned route.

I arrived at my F1 hotel wet, tired but in good spirits having covered approximately 70 miles. It has to be approximate, now, because the rain got into my waterproof cycle computer which now only reads the temperature, which varied from 14 to 17 degrees.
“Quel mauvais temps”