Retirement trip - Day 3

 It was another bright morning as I headed off from Le Mans to my next destination, the very attractive coastal town of La Rochelle. I was there 32 years ago and always planned to revisit. 

The ride was very pleasant as it was very sunny and the temperature soon got up to about 30C. The sat nav is still working OK, but I had to deviate from its route to buy petrol. I knew today wasn't going to be a long ride, so I picked some interesting country roads and sort of 'free formed' it a bit. Saw lots of interesting countryside and rode through lots of very pretty villages. I stopped for a picnic lunch on a bench - orange juice, fresh bread and olives from a local shop.

This is what I love about this style of holiday, you can just stop and buy food for a picnic as you go along and sit on a bench somewhere nice and watch the world go past.

However, I had a small failure on the way to the picnic - the sole started coming off one of my boots! I'd taken an old pair of Alpinestars boots that I rarely wear as they are quite light, so nice and cool, and have a Gore-Tex lining in case it rains. I can't remember buying them but it was about 15 to 20 years ago. When I was in the shop buying the food I got a tube of superglue and will try repairing them tonight.

Whilst I was on the road I saw a lot of 1960s and 70s cars all travelling in the same direction. Mostly smaller stuff like old Renault Dauphins, so I assume there was an event on locally. I stopped at a supermarket for petrol and saw this group.

Back on the road and I got to La Rochelle. Last time I was here it was a very pretty town with lots of good old buildings, but fairly quiet. What a difference now! It was very busy, the harbour area full of bars, cafés and restaurants, and the nearby streets full of high end shops. It must be one of the most cycling friendly towns as there loads of cycle lanes, bicycle shops and hire bikes available. There were probably more people on bikes than in cars.

Some photos from around the harbour area.

Saw this choir performing in a square. Very enthusiastic 'African gospel' singing with dancing and handclapping.

Made my way to my hotel and booked in. I was moving my bike and the saddle came loose. Looking more closely and the two screws at the rear of the saddle were missing. As standard they are ordinary M6 Allen head screws, but I had replaced mine with aftermarket turned alloy ones with a knurled bit so they can be removed without tools. I've had them for about 5 years and have never had them come loose before. However, I had left the bike parked with a group of other bikes, so I wonder if someone spotted them and stole them, there are plenty of other Triumph Bonnevilles running around here. I'll never know, so I'll be off to a hardware store tomorrow to buy some 'ordinary' screws. It's unlikely I'll have to remove the saddle during the rest of the trip so it won't inconvenience me too much.

I didn't keep a note of today's mileage, but this shows the cities I rode between. This is from Google Maps and it calculated the route as taking about 3.5 hours. With all the detours, country roads and stopping for a picnic, I was on the road for about 5.5 hours. 

More tomorrow!