9:25, Peter and I left our B&B in Tessy-sur-view and hooked onto the Euro bike trail #4, following the canal like yesterday, easy and picturesque. Then came the hills, it was if we were repenting for idyllic rides we had over past several days. One murderous climb after another, all day; more climbing in one day than the whole trip combined. Some climbs last for up to thirty five minutes. I even had to dismount and push my bike where the incline of the hill was too steep. Some riders will stay on their bikes at all cost but I try to take the least strenuous approach so I can conserve my energy These are the times when I wish I had shed the ten pounds I put on during the spring and summer. Items I brought with me which have yet to be used, I felt like discarding them by the roadside. Did I need to carrying three apples and an orange? I should switch out my twenty-two granny gear and go to something even smaller. Compounding the strenuous climbs were the poorly marked bike patches. At one point we made a loop of about three miles over hills and ended up in the same ten we had gone through earlier. Had someone told me I would be riding fifty-four miles today, I would have asked the person what hallucinagen they were using. My legs and lungs held up fine but I must have sweat out at least a liter. My arms (pulling on the bars) are soar. Bike drunk, we rolled into Avranche. Peter found the Patton Hotel (next to General Patton's monument, tank and bust) as I inquired at a bike shop about getting another tire, to no avail. So we checked in, cleaned up, had a good dinner out on the town and settled in for a much needed night's sleep.
Tomorrow we will make it to Mont Saint Michel. I have seen the place twice and the tourism has ruined it. After this stop, Peter will be heading south and I west to Brest. One week with Peter
Shultz has been lots fun. Perhaps, I will run into another rider going my way.
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