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loiswolf · 5 years

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Day 21 June 20 Gorgier - Besancon France 121kms

My plan to start really early today was thwarted by 2 things. First I had to wait 20 minutes for the hotel man to come and release my food bag from the kitchen. He locked it after I asked him to refrigerate my stuff when I arrived yesterday. Big mistake! I could have had lettuce and mayonnaise on my bread last night instead of honey. Just slightly more nutritious!

Finally I was able to make my breakfast then Emma called. The first delay was annoying, the second I didn’t mind at all.

When I finally did get moving at 8:15 I had to backtrack a little to the previous town then follow the path which led over the mountain. I had spoken to some cyclists yesterday who seemed to think it was the best way to get over.

I think they were right. The incline was never too hard , it was cool and shady, and the path ran through this lovely forest.

I went slightly astray only once but maps.me helped me get back on track. After using this app I realised I had forgotten to load any maps of France. Second mistake! I figured I could head to McDonald’s when I got to Pontarlier and use their internet to load the map. So I climbed until the 14km mark then I had a lovely downhill run on the other side until I met up with the 10. There were rainclouds threatening over to the left. Good! I’ve had enough sun.

There was only a little rain but it was a bit cool and windy so I left the poncho on for a while. The road was gently undulating with the downhill sections going much longer than the uphill. I took my last photo of Switzerland on one of the hills.

At about 40kms I crossed into France.

Determined to get to Pontarlier I pushed on until I hit the town at 53kms. The plan was McDonald’s but I couldn’t resist the little patisserie I noticed on my right. It was a wonderful choice. I had a slice of pizza ( didn’t really want bread after having it for dinner last night ) a lemon tart and a coffee. The French seem to have lifted their game since I was here last time. There was a pod machine at the back of the cafe. I was happy with that and altogether it cost as much as the cake and coffee I had yesterday.

The girl also gave me the wifi password ( all 30 digits ) so I was able to download the map and check out the route ahead while I was there. It was a perfect meal!

There was still over 60kms to go so I tried not to linger too long. I don’t quite understand the roads here. I ended up on a green road but it was only like a secondary road. Further on it changed to dual carriageway but I stayed there and didn’t get tooted. Somewhere along there I crossed paths with the route from my last ride through France. The kilometres were flying by because I didn’t have to navigate. Eventually the road became too big and too busy so I thought I’d better get off.

Following google maps I had a frustrating 45 minutes trying to find my way on quiet little back roads and avoiding the dirt tracks Mr.Google thought were appropriate. Eventually I was so over it I made my way back up onto the motorway. The next few kilometres were ok then I got the impression I wasn’t supposed to be there. This was confirmed when a van pulled over and told me I’d have to walk Shirley back along the shoulder to the next side road. There was a tunnel looming ahead so I was more than happy to oblige. It wasn’t far back and the road out of there as up for a while then 6kms running downhill all the way into Besancon.

I had picked out a hotel on booking.com but not actually booked it. I cycled up to the Hotel Foch and asked for a room. The lady was going to charge me more than the Booking.com rate so I let her know then she reduced the price. The hotel is ok but al least there are shops and food places around. I’ve been to the supermarket ( France still hides it’s supermarkets) and bought a pizza for dinner to go with my salad. It’s so much cheaper here, I was shocked by how little my groceries cost. And I was able to afford a pizza!!

It’s nearly time for bed.......tomorrow I’m heading for Dijon.

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