Day two Conflans to Creil

Distance: Only 30 miles on the bike today, which was less  than planned

Hill climbs 3 very long and one steep, short one on a rutted, rocky tractor lane

Today was a frustrating day. William and I rode with the long ride group, as we did yesterday, with an expected route length of 50 miles. The weather has been warm enough, in the low 60's, but there's a very chilly wind blowing out of the northwest, which happens to be the direction we are biking toward, so it slows us down and makes us cold.  

We started the day with a barge ride up the Oise River to the town where Van Gogh and his brother are buried. It's a small village, but Van Gogh stayed here awhile, painting several scenes from around town. The sites where he painted have numbered posters outside, with reproductions of the paintings for comparison and reference.  We saw one, the village church. Then we biked up a hill with a 400 foot incline to see the graves of the Van Gogh brothers. 

After visiting the cemetery, we rode downhill, only to climb up another steep, long hill to bike through a village and then through a rutted, muddy, rocky tractor path to return to the road that led downhill again. The two hills that far totaled 825 foot gain in elevation.  And one of the bikes had a flat, so we had to stop to get the tire fixed in the middle of fields of wheat, canola and field peas. 

Then we biked downhill again and through a lovely little river town, spending quite a bit of time on level ground, which was a nice break. But of course, the road went up again, and this time one of the bikes had a bad problem with the gears, necessitating a break of around half an hour to get things fixed for awhile.  We continued up another very large hill to our lunch  spot, this around two p.m., across from Beaumont sur Oise church.

Downhill again, and then up our final long hill, to visit an abbey, with more stops for mechanical problem, which meant we had to scuttle the plans to see the abbey. On the way down one bike broke so severely that the guide had to call for a taxi to take bike and rider back to the barge. This was about an hour total wait, between him trying to fix the bike and getting the taxi arranged, loaded and off to the barge.  So the next planned visit, to an equestrian center, was scuttled and we rode the rest of the way directly back to the barge, arriving around 6:30, just in time for dinner. On the way down the final hill back to the barge, one of the riders hit his left brake by mistake and face planted  at high speed onto the busy main road. Thank goodness he wasn't severely injured.  He has a fat lip, a bloody nose and several facial scrapes and assorted bruises but it could have been much worse.

Tomorrow we cycle to the place where the WWII armistice and the WWII surrender of France to the Nazis was signed. Here's hoping for fewer hills!