Troglodytes, A Bike Race and a Private Soiree

Today is a perfect example of how the shortest rides can sometimes combine the greatest number of surprises. At only 33 km, today should have been probably the easiest day of the entire ride, but it held more than its fair share of great surprises.

We began by riding out of the Clos d'Amboise and I am sure that we were all feeling a little sad to be leaving this incredible hotel. But we knew that the saga must keep evolving and we had to get to the large city of Tours before we could take another break.

We had only ridden a few km before we started to see many examples of garages, wine stores and even entire homes, that had been built right into the cliff faces. This region is well known for its troglodytes (people who live under the ground) and today we saw the first examples.

It was about then that the road started to climb in earnest, with the first of several significant climbs. Even though I deliberately added to the level of difficulty by leading the peloton up the wrong road, they didn't seem to care too much. It was just a case of let's turn around and try it the right way.

After getting through the climbs we emerged onto a flat plateau and somehow stumbled onto a serious bike race in progress. We did our best to ignore the traffic controllers and join the race, but eventually got the hint that maybe the race was not intended for 70 year old Australians on ebikes. Since we had nothing better to do, we stopped and watched, after all , the rest of the town seemed to be having a Sunday morning sleep in, and had decided to ignore the race entirely. While we were watching, a stubborn and disgruntled driver simply ignored the pleas to stop and just went straight past the road block, much to the chagrin of the traffic controllers. I guess that sums up the French attitude perfectly - obey the rules when they suit you, at all other times just ignore them completely.

Each time the pack of riders came past, we gave them a rousing cheer and some typically Australian words of encouragement (mostly along the lines of "Do Something"). After the group had passed us a few times (it was a circuit race), they also entered into the spirit of the occasion by waving and smiling as they passed. It really was a priceless and completely unscripted moment.

During the ride we even managed to find a superb, modern boulangerie with a nearby clean toilet. I remembered stopping here on our last ride in 2019 and it brought back very vivid memories.

The rest of the ride into Tours went without incident and we stopped on the outskirts of the city for lunch at the tennis club, before continuing to our hotel. Tours really is an impressive city, with glorious stately buildings, wide tree lined boulevards and a great public transit system. We were even more impressed when we entered the Oceania Hotel with its amazing entry foyer, complete with huge staircase and murals over all the walls. I really could get used to this.

In the evening we were treated to a Private Soiree at La Petite Cuisine. We had a similar evening back in 2019 and the group agreed that it was probably the most memorable night of the entire ride. I had been looking forward to sharing the experience with a new group of participants. Once again, the two young French owners treated us like dinner party guests in their own home. And the food ? It was simply divine.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel in the warm summer's evening. The streets were almost deserted and overhead the waxing moon helped show us the way back home. It was the perfect end to a magical day.Read more