Day 3: Abbeville to Beauvais
Trip Start
Jun 21, 2011
1
6
7
Trip End
Jun 25, 2011
Beauvais, Picardy, France
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The first few miles of day 3 left me feeling a large dose of de-ja-vu, but what to expect of the rest of the day?..the itinerary read: "Our route this morning follows the river Somme out of Abbeville. The Somme is perhaps most famous for its battles and you cannot fail to be reminded of the thousands who lost their lives in the war. But the Somme is also a Celtic word meaning tranquility… so summing up the feeling of the day as you cycle through this superb region. After lunch you can enjoy the countryside with a little less ‘undulations’ than previous days. We finish the day in Beauvais where the market square, Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, is a true highlight. Several of the houses close to the Cathedral date back from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries." sounds lovely, what it should have read was "undulations come frequently today, beware"...unfortunately the undulations were quite large in the morning and the increased heat from our first proper sunny day coupled with the additional miles on day 2 left me feeling a little heavy legged and by 45 miles gone I felt I was cycling through treacle..luckily I was caught by a group of 5 cyclists all slip streaming each other in a rather professional way. I was able to hang on to the back wheel of the group for the next 10 minutes during which it gave me the breather I required.
The rest of the day raced by with this group, each man sharing 1 mile stints on the front of the train dragging the others along whilst they recharged their legs. Luckily this left my legs feeling strong again by the time the inevitable afternoon undulations arrived...surely this itinerary is against the trade descriptions act?!
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