WELL...


Considering I had started the day in rain... and ended the day, in rain... 356km wasn't a bad total. Once again, I pulled off early in the day. Normally in good weather I would ride until at least 6pm sometimes 8 or 9. It was raining so hard the last 20 kilometers as I threaded my way into the 'Parc Naturel Regional Des Volcans D'Auvergne' I could barely see. Cars going by added to my misery, soaking me and Piroska with torrents of water.

I had ridden my Beemer to Vancouver in 1974. On that road trip my tent was buried under a foot of snow outside Jasper, it was so cold my hands didn't have enough heat to fire my little Optimus stove, and upon arrival in Vancouver my normally reliable R 60, bucked and stuttered and died several times. I ended up taking it into Phil Funnels BMW shop on West Hastings if I remember correctly. While the bike was in getting worked on, I went for a wander. Oh, the sights of Vancouver in the 70's... A woman standing on a street corner, talking rather excitedly to herself, with an umbrella on the only sunny day, and an odd chap that followed me for several blocks, making me rather nervous. At a shop he approached me and tried to 'pick me up' ! I was actually relieved!!! Here I thought he was a mugger.

Funnels' found the problem with the stalling and poor running. Apparently those vintage Bimmers carried the ignition points in the bottom of the engine case directly behind the front tire. The circular compartment was sealed by an O-ring from the elements, a good thing but a bad thing too. Seems whenever heavy rains would splash from my tire, condensation from the hot engine would literally fill the cavity! The cure was a small hole drilled in the bottom of the case into the points cover, and a bent cotter pin installed to keep it from filling with debris. Problem solved.

The Divvie wasn't experiencing such problems, but I hesitate to think how I would have dealt with the points flooding back in '74, when I'd intended riding the BMW thru Europe?

I, on the other hand, was thoroughly soaked. I felt like a (soggy) tomato and lettuce sandwich! All day in the rain with several regular cloudbursts contrived to defeat my wet weather gear. Yup... it was only 4 PM, but arriving in St Jaques Des Blats, I could ride no farther. St Flour was another 30km up the mountain road I was skittering about on, splashing and frolicking in 50F temperature and sodden skies.

I'm staying in a little village of 500 souls, 3560' above sea level. Hotel Le Brunet is down a steep but paved hill, overlooking a fabulous valley that at the moment, is shrouded in mist. I am able to park my bike under an overhanging abutment just slightly out of the direct rain. I notice as I am unpacking my gear that it is quite chilly! It seemed colder than the 50 odd degrees showing on my watch, my breath was misting. I was very glad to stand in the shower, being pelted by gazillions of droplets of hot water, for what seemed like an hour. After getting dried out, I wandered the village, the rain giving me a little break. Pretty little alpine setting, high speed train going by across the valley as I walked and snapped pics. The ground was covered in 'Escargot' and shelter less, naked mega snails!

Surprisingly, I'm only about 300 km north of Olonzac, wonders what Saskia is up to. I had passed the longitudinal meridian of France during the day. Switzerland is only a couple of days away now.

The chain is still giving me grief, requiring regular stops to adjust the thing! Peeved!!!

The scenery has been fabulous, winding roads climbing up an down gentle hills. It's really a shame that the weather isn't co-operating. The riding would be a lot more pleasant if I could enjoy the road. Everything is green green green.

Guess what???

I awoke to... Yup, RAIN!

Sigh... it was another Charlie Brown kinda day, you know the type... where Lucy swears she won't jerk the football away and she does anyway, sending CB, a kerplunking onto his bottom.

Sigh...

I passed thru lovely towns with musical names. Murat, St Flour, Le Puyen Velay was gorgeous!

By mid afternoon I'd left the rain clouds behind and actually rode for nearly an hour, skirting black clouds, in relative sunshine. I even stopped at a little cafe and sat (with all my rain gear on) at an outside table to drink an Espresso.

I rode across the River Loire, another impressive Roman bridge crossing halfway before it becomes a ruin.

A cathedral originally built by Romans atop an impressive

rock pinnacle jutting straight up several hundred feet into the cloudy sky, is flanked by a huge statue on the next hill (?) to the West.

Around a mountain bend I came across the most treacherous road that I had ridden in all of Europe. Narrow, which was okay, and twisting sharply, unravelling in a thread thru thick pine forest. Route D15 from LPV was at times, unpredictably covered in pea sized gravel, sometimes inches thick! It was impossible to make good time, my speeds were barely over 50kph. I have to tell you, this was the only time on the entire trip that I felt uncomfortable with road conditions. I was glad when I left the forest behind for open fields and in the distance, the shimmering Alps rose into view.

At Valence I had a chicken Caesar at the Golden Arches. Now before you gag, let me tell you something. I found the McD's to be clean, friendly, warm and in some cases, equipped with computers for guests like moi! I was grateful for them. Small town restaurants often times didn't open until late evening, and in some cases, were closed on weekends. McD's became a welcome sight to me! Besides... you can't beat those playpens, for the young or young at heart... right!!! (wink wink)

At least I wasn't the only one getting rained on. Bikes were everywhere. French riders were enthusiastic, rarely slowing down even on rain soaked cobbled streets.

Chambery came and went under the sporty tires, and by Aix les Bains, I was once again looking for an overnight stop. I tried a very modern looking hiway hotel that was totally automated. Instead of a desk clerk, there was only a complicated machine that refused to accept my credit cards and left me frustrated in the gathering darkness, it was nearly 9 pm and I had covered almost 450km. Another 30 km led me to Annecy where I found a room for 69E. Annecy is a major city and I didn't relish riding thru in the dark and of course... the rains had found me after that brief respite earlier in the day.