I haven't had much chance to take "reportable" rides this year. Or, more accurately, among the rides I've taken this year, three that weren't intended to be that way stand out as unforgettable — the wrong way.
Anyway, I've been making that other, nice kind of ride since about a month now. First off, and to get Anne back onto 2 wheels, a nice little ride to Noyon. As usual, we didn't stop for pictures, but the weather was fine, and there is something touching to fields that are just beginning to bear recognisable crop.
For Easter, I went to visit my mom. I can only say the bike ran great, despite slightly more pronounced vibration in the handlebars. I guess I'd better not mention the mileage I got, esp. since I had a good wind in the back :whistle:
Anyway, while back in the home country, we did something very typical: we took a biking tour.
The last 2 weekends were a bit more fruitful, and I even took a few pictures from the roadside. Saturday 2/5 I got the itch, and went off on a small hike over our local back roads. This has to be taken literally, and one has to allow the image of a turtle's back in the mind's eye. The country side is hilly, and there are quite a few unexpected switchbacks and hairpin curves, apart from the more frequent regular twisties. Thing is ... they're narrow, sometimes only a single tractor wide, have surface in widely varying degrees of (non)repair (the non~ version leading to bits of gravel - or simply vegetation) and as they appear in many cases to be cobblestone roads covered with a layer of tarmac, their cross-section goes from flat to hunchback. In short, they're fun, as long as you don't bite them as I did in january. I'm not sure if I'm being overly careful nowadays, but on the twisty stretches, I now doodle along between 40 and 60 km/h, unless I'm really sure of the surface state and reasonably certain nothing will cross my path just around the corner :S
Sunday 3/5 we went together to trace back one of our most appreciated rides from last year, along the Chemin des Dames. This road is called so because it is the road 2 daughters of Louis XV took, but as it traces a ridge between the rivers Aisne and Ailette, it offers nice scenery AND saw an incredible amount of back and forth fighting during WW-1. Road book: we followed the D22 from Rozet-Saint-Alban to Brainy; the Chemin des Dames starts where we turned west, after Craonne. No time for pics, just pure bliss riding (at the aforementioned pace...)
Last Saturday, the 9th, there was supposed to be a rally in Quessy, a small town north of Soissons. I'd sort of set up to meet with 2 members of a French forum in Chauny — that is, they'd be in a pub between 14 and 15h. I think it was about 13h when I finally took off, with the intention to travel some more of the back roads instead of the fast 4-laner. I indeed saw my share of nice roads and scenery (no overgrown 1 laners this time), but when I got to the RV point, the birds had already left. And the rally in Quessy turned out to be a very discrete event, well hidden and not advertised. I'd thought I'd find it through the inevitable noise, but the only noise I heard was the city's sound system blaring "SPAM" in a loop (was I glad I'd left my ear plugs in!). Not exactly impressed by the city charms, I hit the return trip, with a detour over La Fère for fuel, and Coucy-le-Château for all of 3 pictures. Road book.
Photos of a 2x2 feet, and two 1x2 wheels rides are here.
Anyway, I've been making that other, nice kind of ride since about a month now. First off, and to get Anne back onto 2 wheels, a nice little ride to Noyon. As usual, we didn't stop for pictures, but the weather was fine, and there is something touching to fields that are just beginning to bear recognisable crop.
For Easter, I went to visit my mom. I can only say the bike ran great, despite slightly more pronounced vibration in the handlebars. I guess I'd better not mention the mileage I got, esp. since I had a good wind in the back :whistle:
Anyway, while back in the home country, we did something very typical: we took a biking tour.
The last 2 weekends were a bit more fruitful, and I even took a few pictures from the roadside. Saturday 2/5 I got the itch, and went off on a small hike over our local back roads. This has to be taken literally, and one has to allow the image of a turtle's back in the mind's eye. The country side is hilly, and there are quite a few unexpected switchbacks and hairpin curves, apart from the more frequent regular twisties. Thing is ... they're narrow, sometimes only a single tractor wide, have surface in widely varying degrees of (non)repair (the non~ version leading to bits of gravel - or simply vegetation) and as they appear in many cases to be cobblestone roads covered with a layer of tarmac, their cross-section goes from flat to hunchback. In short, they're fun, as long as you don't bite them as I did in january. I'm not sure if I'm being overly careful nowadays, but on the twisty stretches, I now doodle along between 40 and 60 km/h, unless I'm really sure of the surface state and reasonably certain nothing will cross my path just around the corner :S
Sunday 3/5 we went together to trace back one of our most appreciated rides from last year, along the Chemin des Dames. This road is called so because it is the road 2 daughters of Louis XV took, but as it traces a ridge between the rivers Aisne and Ailette, it offers nice scenery AND saw an incredible amount of back and forth fighting during WW-1. Road book: we followed the D22 from Rozet-Saint-Alban to Brainy; the Chemin des Dames starts where we turned west, after Craonne. No time for pics, just pure bliss riding (at the aforementioned pace...)
Last Saturday, the 9th, there was supposed to be a rally in Quessy, a small town north of Soissons. I'd sort of set up to meet with 2 members of a French forum in Chauny — that is, they'd be in a pub between 14 and 15h. I think it was about 13h when I finally took off, with the intention to travel some more of the back roads instead of the fast 4-laner. I indeed saw my share of nice roads and scenery (no overgrown 1 laners this time), but when I got to the RV point, the birds had already left. And the rally in Quessy turned out to be a very discrete event, well hidden and not advertised. I'd thought I'd find it through the inevitable noise, but the only noise I heard was the city's sound system blaring "SPAM" in a loop (was I glad I'd left my ear plugs in!). Not exactly impressed by the city charms, I hit the return trip, with a detour over La Fère for fuel, and Coucy-le-Château for all of 3 pictures. Road book.
Photos of a 2x2 feet, and two 1x2 wheels rides are here.
