Not rain this time, but a flood!
We started the day on beautiful paths out of Nantes. It was much easier than our ride into Nantes from the west. Then we hit about 15km of single track and mud. But unlike on the Canal du Midi, the track was much wider, and there was a gravel base that helped us keep our traction, so we still made good time.
But the big excitement of the day started just after lunch. We had heard rumors of the path being under water, and as we entered Saint Floret le Vieil, we could see where the river had been flooding the path. A few blocks later, the path disappeared under the Loire and we had to find our way through the town to continue.
We thought that would be all, but it was just the beginning. We stopped in Montjean sur Loire to call ahead to a hotel and gourmet restaurant we had stayed at in Angers in 2005. They were closed on Wednesdays so MC was calling to find us another place.
While this was happening Jon saw a group of 4 cyclists heading west and wondering about a “route barrier” we had just come through. He went to let them know it was open for bicycles and they asked about flooding.
They did not speak English, and kept saying something about Pont and tout droite – meaning “cross the bridge and go right”. They were very insistent, and then said to stay on the road. We then compared maps, and it became very clear. Up ahead were very large sections of the path flooded from all the rains in central France this past week. We needed to make some major changes in our route.
It really saved us a lot of backtracking. In this picture, we were supposed to be on a path on the island across the river.
In the end, we made fantastic time and achieved two milestones today. First, we have fully recovered from headwinditis – and did our first century in Europe, 102km. We’ve realized that we may not have been able to do this trip at all if we tried it with the trailer, and now not having it is paying off in our speed and distance.
Secondly, we have now gone 1248km, so are more than half way through the tour.
Our location in Angers is also ahead of schedule for the first time – which puts us in excellent position for the upcoming Chateau hopping along this part of the Loire. We are just 2km from our 2005 route, but have plans to see many of the Chateaus we missed that year.