The day started cloudy and overcast. After yesterday it was a welcome relief. This was going to be one of the longest stages - (130 miles). Sainte Soulle is a small village on the outskirts of La Rochelle in the Poitou-Charentes region.
The first obstacle of the day was the bridge at St Nazaire which was clearly designed for motorists and bikes were not included in the plans!
The country roads were very pleasant, miles and miles of market gardens and then forest. After 4 hours we found a nice place to stop for lunch.
Tip of the day: If you ever wish to do something like this, make sure to have a decent set of road maps that show a host of minor roads rather than having to use motorist road maps where some of the locations are not shown!!
After lunch we were unsure of exactly where we were because the villages we passed through were not marked on our map.
Also wouldn't it be nice if the road numbers at sign posts coincided with those on the map.
At last we arrived at Sainte Soulle. My actual riding time was 7hrs 12 mins which is an average of 16+ mph. Some sections of the roads I could not ride because of - bridges and extreme traffic conditions.
A long tiring day. Stelly enjoyed a well deserved swim after the frustrations of driving and looking after me. I sat by the pool with a glass of wine - the water was too cold for me - I'm a whimp!
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