About 10 years ago we biked in upstate NY (with his brother, Josh) and a year or two later took on Vermont. So, this trip was a great chance to reconnect with Justin, who lives in Chicago, recently earned his PhD, and got engaged. I don’t get to see Justin, or any of our other 12 nieces and nephews, as much as I’d like, what with everyone scattered all over the country and beyond, from England to San Fran to Tampa. Which kind of makes me a knucklehead, as the castle – and especially the views from the upper turrets or parapets (I’m not sure what’s the right word) – just might be the highlight of the Dordogne. However, I never made it up all those steep steps to the actual castle. And we really liked the town: A nice hotel right on the river, a fantasy castle looming up above, with a medieval village in between. I’d been to Beynac before, back in 1997, with Susan. The lesson learned: 24 days alone would have been way too long, even with the ability to video chat with Susan most evenings. Fortunately, and despite a train strike, which I’ll get to, Justin (my nephew) joined me for the Dordogne portion of the trip. The days were fine, what with all the riding. Susan has always joined me for at least a portion of past bike trips, but not this one. I was by myself the first half of my trip, the Lot and Cele river valleys. I was worried my bike shoes wouldn’t make it through airport security and would be classified as a toxic hazard. Wow were they stinky, despite my best efforts with the woefully unpowerful hotel hair dryers. This task is pretty much impossible, which means, item-by-item, sock-by-sock, the dampness becomes permanent and deeply engrained in everything. The problem is drying stuff out in a small hotel room. There were only a couple of out-and-out downpours (like the one above). Riding in the rain isn’t really that horrible, especially when it’s a misty, foggy rain or a light drizzle, which it was most of the time. Here’s what it’s like to ride in the rain… Perhaps September would have been a drier, warmer month for this trip than October. Off and on, and then pretty much every day From Day 11 until the final couple of days. Huh? Well, what I mean is, over the years, and my many French bike trips, I’ve gotten better at planning and mapping out routes and discovering the best of each region. Perhaps one of the reasons I underestimated the Dordogne is that I’ve improved. Then again, I better go back to the Loire and do some more research before I make such a bold declaration. 1, but the Big D just might have inched its way past the Loire and into second place. The Dordogne is magnificent and has moved way up on my list of the best places to bike in France. I rode through the Dordogne in 19 … and remember it as a nice place to cycle, but nothing special. I’m kind of scared to look online.īefore the memories of this trip slowly begin to fade from my memory, like the fourth season of Schitt’s Creek, I thought I better jot down some observations and a few of the lessons learned. I’m writing this from home, which means my 24-day, 850-mile 2019 French cycling adventure is over.
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