I know what you are thinking, with just over two weeks left before the NOV. election, how can I be taking the weekend off for a bike ride? Well, let's just say I have my priorities straight.
We left our house with our tandem strapped to the top of the car to head 2 hours south of Paris into the region known as La Sologne. It is marked by beautiful forests and more ponds (les etangs) and lakes than I have seen anywhere in France. It also has great wildlife, and did I mention that hunting season opened last week?
Anyway, nearly 50 SMUSards (29 bicyclists and their support teams) headed to an old farm, now converted into a kind of conference center and longer stay hotel, for a weekend of bicycling and fun. The weather was gloriously clear, but also cold when we rode out of the direct sun. That's good bicycling weather for most of us. We took the tandem which means while I pedal, I can take pictures of the rest of the group, as they ride by us (that would be uphill) or while we sail down the hills past them.
The region is also known for its unique building materials and the patterns of the bricks. Usually in small towns we see lots of cream colored stucco and stone, but not here. The architecture is always based on the available building material, and as it is so swampy here, there isn't much stone to work with. Apparently though, there was plenty of clay with which to make the bricks.
After riding over 50 miles on Saturday, I asked for a reprieve on Sunday and instead of the planned 35 mile ride, we took the 6 mile walk through the tree lined gravel roads or across the public access trails around one of the small villages. We saw pheasant, deer, herons, and hunters. Fortunately, we were on well marked roads and pedestrian paths, where the hunters accessed their private fields or parked their cars, so unless Dick Cheney was here - the direction of the shooting was pretty well controlled.
The fall in this part of the country is a firestorm of reds, golds and oranges, with wide swatches of bight pink cosmos and deep purple daliahs and enough green in the leaves to keep it well contrasted.
Enjoy -- and before you report me for slacking, I was only a cell phone call away.
