Day 3 – Moulle, Fra to Cantin, Fra

19^th July 2017

I woke up to freshly squeezed OJ, carrot, something else and a whole load more things which was a real treat. The lentils and rice for breakfast was a bit more of a surprise though. Nonetheless, any food never goes a miss. I said my goodbyes and was on my way, cycling along the canal until the tarmac turned to sand.

The sun was blazing, and the wind was smack bang in my face throughout the day, it was tough going, and when I stopped for “lunch” consisting not more than a shake, the map said there was still 80 odd km to go, not what I wanted to see! The terrain was flat, but now and again my route would take me down some rogue narrow path, so it was a stop start affair.

By 5/6 pm I was nearly gone, the 7 litres I carry had gone and anything left inside me was almost at an end, there was a point 15km short where I didn’t think I was going to make it to Sophie and Vincent’s house. A hand full of nuts and raisins seemed to do the trick. Any sense of self-pity quickly evaporated when I rode up to see Sophie waving me down. She said hello with a big smile and took into her house. Been slightly dehydrated I must have down five glasses of water before we agreed a shower would be wise.

When I came out, I saw Vicent there a tall, tanned gentleman who had just come back from training for an upcoming Ironman. Then in the corner of my eye a giant bowl of pasta, where Sophie was adding all sorts, tuna, not a big fan of canned tuna but keep my mouth closed, the tuna could have been Caviar for all I cared, it was fantastic. Cheese, of course, followed this! We are in France. We spent the evening chatting about each other’s adventures before I called it a night, it had been a tough day, but it makes the suffering worthwhile when you get to meet people like Vincent and Sophie along the way.