Today started out real nice. A early rise with a glowing moon just going beneath the horizon. I grabbed a baguette and a hot apple pie at the bakery which was absolutely heavenly. I'll have to keep my eyes out for those things. Everyone here carries a baguette here but I'm guessing few stuff theirs into their rear pannier. I had to break it to make it fit. I found the direction I wanted to go then discovered the voie vert and took that. It ended and I had a choice between left and right. Sure wish I had gone left. I was several kms down the road before I discovered my rear tire was softening. A little further and I was going the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. However, I did see a (I'm not sure what the polite counter for baby ducks is...) mass of yellow things in a yard. There must have been 200 of those suckers. I'm going to call the picture,"Happier Times at the FoieGras Plant". I did manage to recover a bit but was now heading up the centre route instead of along the coast. The area was forestry and agriculture but it was absolutely ugly. At Labouhyre, I decided to stop pumping my tire every 3 kms and changed it out. It was now starting to get very warm. It took me forever to get back on track because the signs would mention a town, then never refer to them further down the road. I got lucky following Pissos which lead to the small town I wanted to go to next. I was led to a road that followed the interstate and it was just ugly road. I came to an intersection with no signs and guessed which way to go. Again, a little further and signs disappeared. I asked the hotel owner and he pointed me in the direction of the street that had no signs.
It was good going until about 29 kms out when my tire went flat again. I had spent .50 euro to pump it up but something was off. I took it easy and only had to stop every 5 kms to fix it. My luck changed at Gradignan when the nice people there let me use their computers at the Mediatheque. It's not called the library anymore. Found my address for tonight was not far but my tyre was done even with pump ups. I walked it in the rest of the way before taking refuge at McDonalds. I'm more interested in the wi-fi than I am the food. Only another hour before I meet my host Laurent. As a last minute request, he really saved me. I will be glad to turn the page on this day and get my tire issues addressed tomorrow! I was piste off :) they call the bike paths pistes here! Hopefully, those green bke signs won't lead me astray again.
It was good going until about 29 kms out when my tire went flat again. I had spent .50 euro to pump it up but something was off. I took it easy and only had to stop every 5 kms to fix it. My luck changed at Gradignan when the nice people there let me use their computers at the Mediatheque. It's not called the library anymore. Found my address for tonight was not far but my tyre was done even with pump ups. I walked it in the rest of the way before taking refuge at McDonalds. I'm more interested in the wi-fi than I am the food. Only another hour before I meet my host Laurent. As a last minute request, he really saved me. I will be glad to turn the page on this day and get my tire issues addressed tomorrow! I was piste off :) they call the bike paths pistes here! Hopefully, those green bke signs won't lead me astray again.