Thursday June 22nd
Metz to Nancy.
An easy day of 44 kms or so.
Wrong! So wrong!I had mixed up my miles and kms it was 77kms when I reached the first sign and I just couldn't get going. I had thought that I would be in Nancy for lunch!
I set off on the "piste cyclable" flat, well signed, warm but easy enough. The cycle path followed a route between the Moselle and the canal du Moselle. At first it was through a forest - very isolated and peaceful. I passed nobody for an hour until I encountered a guy pushing his mountain bike because he had a puncture. I stopped and offered him one of my spare tubes but he said that he was close to home and he was fine. As we chatted he asked one question after another it was more 120 questions than 20 questions.
I carried on and the path came to a sudden end. No signs but I was at a bridge which I crossed.
Things went uphill or was it downhill from there! That was the last I saw of the cycle path. The road was much hillier and a wind had sprung up in my face. After the first up I was inexplicably tired. It wasn't yet lunchtime and I was struggling to keep going. It was only when I reached Nancy and the thermometers were showing 38 degs and no sun that I realised why.
Still I had reached Nancy I would soon be settled and a day off tomorrow.
I rode about for 10 mins without finding any useful signs so I stopped a man of about fifty who deflated me by telling me that the municipal campsite was at Villers les Nancy 6 kms away straight up the steepest hill you can imagine.
Think Cadgers brae followed by Annfield Brae three or for times. He apologised for not being able to take me in his car which was too small and promptly telephoned ahead to the site to make sure I didn't climb the hill in vain.
No problem- there was room at the inn. I almost wished it was full. What a gentleman.
I set off. It wasn't too bad at first but the heat and my lack of water ( I had already drunk four one and a half lire bottles of water) were taking their toll and I had to resort to gear 28 (walking)
I was only able to push the distance between two lampposts before needing to rest. About two thirds of the way up, a gentleman ( a true gentleman) of about thirty-five stopped to ask if I was ok and offered to put my bike in the back of his smart Golf GTI. I told him that I was knackered but that I could make it.He must have thought otherwise because a few moments later he came down the hill and insisted that he would help me push my bike to the top. The fact that I allowed him to help me gratefully should tell you everything. When I thanked him effusively and shook his hand he replied, "C'est normal." It might be normal in his world but I was moved practically to tears by this demonstration of human kindness.
When I reached the campsite it was almost worth it. Camping le Brabois is a well appointed site. As I set about putting up my tent my German neighbours brought me a very welcome cold beer. The good news is 6 kms of freewheeling tomorrow to get back to the Moselle.(there is always an upside)
Tomorrow I will take the tram into Nancy to see the sights basking in the warm glow of human kindness.
22/06/17 Thursday Camping le
Brabois Villers les Nancy €15 4
camp shop open till 10, fresh eggs, bread, good toilets, nothing walkable
Brian - delighted that u will give yourself some well earned rest. It has been so rewarding to read about the flow of human kindness as you made your way all,along this trip. Your fortitude is certainly being recognised at home and abroad. Sounds like you may need to add a water trolley to your lightweight gear portfolio. You have got around some nasty and challenging route blockages that would have stopped many in their tracks. We can always rely on Brian to get over challenges. At least you don't have a co traveller who thinks a village has been renamed since the map was last printed. Victoria Pendleton, the Olympic Cycling Gold Medallist, says cycling is 80% mental and 20% physical. Sounds easy when I write that. Just keep taking enough water and calories. Keep the Granny Gears in reserve and keep on rolling.
ReplyDeleteThanks again Bert. I think Victoria Pendleton is about right but she is a wiry fit thirty something. The granny gears are generally useless unfortunately. Once I leave the lowest middle gear wheel gear unless it is a very short hill it is inevitably gear 28. The water is a problem beacause you never know when you can refill but you can't refill it if is full!
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