The villages were a constant delight and the countryside really was stunning. We loved these rides and the lack of traffic and good road surfaces made them a perfect spot for a bike ride. We cruised along gently not wanting to put too much strain on Oscar who was by now suffering again. By morning coffee it was clear that for him to continue would jeopardise his whole trip and possibly his knees in the future so we made the unenviable decision to put him in the car. Thank heavens for our superb support crew who were soon at the rendevouz point and taking care of loading Oscars bike on the roof of the car. We all hoped that with a day or two of rest he would be able to continue the trip, it was a long shot but worth a try. Anterior knee pain is not fun and with legs that are as long as Oscars the joint forces in his knees are alot higher than most so he was always likely to be predisposed. Seeing the bike on the roof was a sad sight. However he is a young man and needs his knees. Some decisions in life are hard but have to be taken for the longer term good. He had ridden a fantastic distance already. |We waited to see what difference a rest would do.
The afternoon we sped up a little as we were making slow progress had still had a long way to go to get to Rochefort on the Atlantic coast. We were just too late by a few weeks it seems to see the now regular fields of sunflowers in the fields who all hung their heads solemly as we rode past. The yellow faded and the sun apparently all gone from their wilted bodies. Occasionally though we found a field where they were still at full strength and they were at those times a real sight to behold.
We crossed various canals and streams and as the late afternoon sun started to set eventually made it to Rochefort Sur Mer where our hotel was in the Ramparts of the old city. It was on the other side of an open bridge into the enclosed harbour so our final hurdle of the day for Jeff was to navigate us around the harbour to the hotel on the other side. Sadly there was no time left to use the facilities and try the thermal baths attached to the hotel. we were far too focussed on food and sleep.
Of course the trouble with writing these blog posts so many days after the event is that you forget some of the important things that happen along the way. I did grill the team the other night to prompt me for the things we should be including and yet I have managed to forget the fact that on our way to Rochefort we stopped for our now customary picnic lunch in a quiet spot and it was hosted by Mr & Mrs Cleminson (Kate's mum and dad) who live in France. We have really enjoyed the family aspects of this trip, meeting so many family members and having a support crew that contains people of all ages. It really has been one of the major highlights of the trip and has made it more than just a team event. Its made it much more personal and in true Healix tradition it we all feel part of a wider family.
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