Ride 36: Fontainebleau to Évry

The only reason to stay here is to break up the final ride to Paris so that we can avoid afternoon traffic. Évry is midway between Fontainebleau and Paris. It’s close to the Orly Airport. We are staying in an area that has the feel of US office parks.

The first twenty miles of today’s ride traversed quiet backroads through forest, farm fields and sleepy villages. The final part foreshadowed tomorrow’s ride: busy traffic and complex navigation through suburban communities.

Tomorrow: Paris!

Stats

Distance: 28.8 miles

Elapsed time: 3 hours 45 min

Average speed: 10.6 mph

Ride 35: Barbizon and around Fontainebleau (day trip)

With multiple contributions of local knowledge, the Fontainebleau forest is redeemed in our eyes (at least somewhat). With persistence, we found a nice, paved, no-traffic route to Barbizon, a center of French realism painting in the mid 19th century. Ingrid noted the town’s similarity to Carmel. We found other interesting features of the forest, including popular bouldering sites. The nice route is barely mapped and poorly signed, giving an impression that some people prefer to keep secret the possibility to travel on this route.

In the afternoon, we rode to the train station in Avon and ate lunch salads. The riding ended with further exploration of the Fontainebleau chateau’s grounds and nearby parks.

Stats

Distance: 18.2 miles

Elapsed time: 6 hours

Average speed: 7.2 mph (incl. some walking)

Ride 34: Sens to Fontainebleau

(This is our only repeat ride route, matching Ride 02, but in reverse. The five week gap between rides left both of us feeling that it was more new than repetitive.)

A remarkable positive of this trip is that our disappointments have durations of only hours. Count the Fontainebleau forest in the disappointment column. Three stars (“can’t miss”) on the Michelin map; but, we’re not seeing it. Biking in and out has been a bit “white knuckle” because of moderate traffic including large trucks traveling very fast on roads with no shoulders. We have not found forest roads to be suitable for road bikes. (And call me a western snob, but the nature qualities of the forest here don’t appear to be any better than, say, in Oakland’s Redwood Regional Park.)

After a pleasant riding day (and not long travel distance) we arrived 3 hours before 5 PM check-in. We tried three or four options to use the time fruitfully, but ultimately failed. To the positive, we are now checked in at a very nice B&B, where we’ll be for two nights before the last two-day pedal to Paris.

Stats (up to initial arrival in FB*)

Distance: 35.4 miles

Elapsed time: 4 hours 25 minutes

Average speed: 11.4 mph

(*) Total cycling distance: 43.3 miles

Ride 33: Auxerre to Sens

This is our 2nd stop in Sens. We were here 5 weeks ago after our 2nd day of riding, but with no real time to explore.

Our ride today started with an hour of cold fog, but ended in warm sun. The route overlapped a little with Ride 3, mainly around the lunch stop. Lots of farmland and small villages set in gently rolling hills.

There are not many vending machines in France, but we did see one for baguettes!

Stats

Distance: 45.0 miles

Elapsed time: 6 hours

Average speed: 10.7 mph

Ride 32: Vézelay to Auxerre

Great riding conditions, but a bit of pressure. We hung around Vézelay until the 11 AM checkout time (partly for interesting sights, and partly waiting for last night’s storm to pass). We had a 3 PM appointment in Auxerre to check in at the apartment we have rented for two nights. Four hours for the 30-mile ride is sufficient, but I got a flat tire after only 6 miles of riding. The repair only took 20 minutes. After pushing the pace for a bit we eased up, pausing for photos of the attractive Yonne River, with emerging fall color and crisply clear air. We made our appointment with 10 minutes to spare.

Stats

Distance: 32.0 miles

Elapsed time: 3 hours 40 min

Average speed: 11.9 mph

Ride 30: Bourbon-Lancy to Chatillon-en-Bazois

Crazy development this afternoon. We have been transported by car 10 km away from the town we rode to by the owners of the B&B where we booked. We’re being accommodated at a friend of theirs. Something about the reason for all this was lost in translation. But it does seem that we’ll end up with dinner, a bed for the night, breakfast, and an interesting story to tell, all for the cost of some hours lost and unmet expectations.

The riding today was good, split evenly between gentle rollers on quiet roads through farm and forest followed by an imperfect but acceptable canal tow path.

Stats

Distance: 43.0 miles

Elapsed time: 5 hours

Average speed: 11.8 mph