October 1, 2018 Mulhouse to Besancon

Today the weather forecast was for rain and cold and the weathermen were right on both counts.  We started the day at 7 C and the clouds were a very dark gray with rain imminent. It was also a 136 km ride day with 586 meters of climb so it was a long day to top it all off.  I had said that we would get an earlier start so we were ready to roll at 8:15.  Juerg had decided to leave earlier as he thought that the weather was going to deteriorate during the day. He left a 7:30 which was right at sun rise however it looked pretty dark out when Juerg left. 

Ken, Earnie, and I all rolled out together and worked our way down to the canal bike path through the usual lefts and rights and down a bunch of cobble stone lanes.  Morning traffic was already pretty heavy and we were glad to be on the canal bike path. 

Once on the canal bike path it was pretty straight sailing along.  The only deviation was that once in a while the paved path would change sides, so you would have to cross the canal at one of the locks or bridges.  The canal was climbing for the first 30 kms and then it started a decent. At about the 20 km mark the rain started as a light drizzle so Ken and I stopped and pulled on the rain gear.  Good thing as we were just finished pulling it on when the rain started in earnest.  At the 35 kms mark we came to a place in the path which had a barrier across the path.  There was a detour around the barrier onto a part of the path which was shared with a road.  As I rode around the detour I got a flat. This is the first bike flat of the tour.  Don’t you just love fixing flats in the rain? 

When we got to the little village of Cerval it was 12:30 and we were 88 kms into the ride.  Both Ken and I were feeling hungry so we went off route in search of food.  Most of the shops were closed but we came to a little hotel which had a lot of trucks parked outside and a restaurant.  Inside it was packed with truck drivers and locals.  The waitress (and I assume owner) wasn’t happy to see two soaking wet cyclists who only spoke French.  She stuffed us into a corner table.  I was seated so I could see the chalk board menu and ordered the Poulet au Fillet, Ken motioned two.  Within moments two huge plates appeared heaped with hash browns, green beans and a huge homemade chicken cordon bleu.  It was a great surprise and it was delicious.

Totally stuffed we were out on the road again and down the roads.  At this point we had a couple of climbs ahead of us both in the 125 meter range. The first one wasn’t too bad and we were up and over it.  The second one was much longer and had several false summits.   This climb was taking us from one valley to the next one. During this whole time the rain had decided to just pelt down.  Sitting in the restaurant in wet clothes had chilled me to the bone and now in the cold rain I was really feeling the cold as it was still in the single digits temperature wise.  Even though we were at only 450 meters in altitude we were still in the clouds. 

After the decent into the next valley Ken called out that he could see some blue sky and sure enough there was a patch.  Ken and I caught up to Earnie who had passed us while we were eating.  So we rode along exchanging stories for a while before Ken and I headed off.  

Coming into Besancon was a third huge climb along a very busy road.  After the quiet of the canal bike paths it was nerve racking.

It was a hard day in the rain. However it was a very beautiful ride through some incredible countryside. We rode past some magnificent canal scenery, past some huge limestone cliffs, through quaint country villages and alongside some beautiful rivers.  

Terry