I woke very early to the sound of wind. Bugger! I got up and stuck my head out the window trying to work out the orientation of the house. Bugger…it was an easterly!
I climbed back into bed but slept restlessly as I knew it was not going to be a walk in the park kind of day.
After breakfast we bade our farewells and hit the road.
This is the route we took today. When I checked the forecast in the morning it was for 25-35 mph ( not km/h) in the morning easterly direction, changing to up to 50mph in the afternoon. Bugger! As can be seen from our route, we were heading in an east to,south easterly direction.
Today was the hardest day I have ever done in a bike, regardless of distance.
We rode a total of 174 km incredibly slowly due to the wind. I was pedalling downhill and doing 15 kmh on a 3 percent decline. On the flats I was lucky to get 10-12 kmh in the worst winds.
We also climbed just over 1600 metres.
The wind was in our face all day, without reprieve. I’ve not experienced such unrelenting wind before as often you change direction or the wind settles down.
It is difficult to picture wind but in the photo below, you can see the dirt being whipped off the farm land.
We rode through a number of charming villages.
One a variety of surfaces.
Taking any opportunity to draft!
Predominantly an agricultural region with the canola in flower. Canola is grown widely here as a form of bio fuel. Apparently the Republic’s president has a financial interest in many of them bio fuel companies.
Thirst was not an issue today, but we found a few of these drinking machines where you can purchase still or carbonated water.
Service stations were the go today, as they had clean toilets and ‘food’.
Probably our favourite town today was Limotsyl.
Hindsight shows that we should have stopped here as it started to bucket down with rain just after for some 30 km.
We refuelled at a pub around 30km from our destination for much needed tucker. This also got us out of the wind and rain and in front of a nice wood heater. I had no idea what I ordered for dinner but recognised one word ‘schnitzel’. Obviously no Czech translation so,ordered two!
The downside to stopping meant we completed the last 20 km of the ride in the dark. That was a challenge as we only had our warning lights on the bike. There was a climb in total darkness between two villages. No lights, no moon due to the rainy sky. That was technically challenging as was the descent as there were toads all over the road. No pictures either!!
We were pleased to arrive at our accomodation only to find that Tony’s mobile was flat and we could not ring the owner to come and let us in. Half an hour later we were in, showered and went to bed!
Given tomorrows forecast it is likely we will tweak the itinerary as the strong winds are forecast for the next few days. A real shame, but nothing you can do about the weather but act safely!
So more photos from today that we liked.
Ooroo
A flat tyre! Fortunately I had my team mechanic on hand to render timely assistance! Thankyou Tony. It was not a straight forward tyre change as the sand had attached itself to so much and we needed to clean bits to ensure a smooth ‘ putting back together’. Then my rear derailleur would not work, but the team mechanic figured that out too. He may have cussed a little!
We stopped at a boulangerie for a quick bite as they were about to close for the afternoon siesta. No coffee available. Hmm.
With time marching on we needed to get back to Belisaire to catch the ferry to Arachon to then catch our train back to Bordeaux. We could not help but to stop and check out the impressive lighthouse. 
yakkablog 