Cycling France: Saumur to Nantes

My latest bicycle touring update, cycling in France, with Katrin, Saumur to Nantes. 90 miles. We had a nice early start this morning, and we were on the road by six-thirty. Not bad, considering how long it usually takes women to get ready. Maybe she was glad to get out of the tent after our first night under canvas.

It’s been tough going all day today with a strong headwind and rain this morning. And this afternoon, I managed to cause an accident. We were riding side by side on one of the quiet country lanes when we turned a corner. Unfortunately, as we rounded the corner, another cyclist was coming the other way, and we met in the middle of the road. I braked, he braked, I stopped, he stopped, I put my feet on the ground, he didn’t! He just keeled over after getting his feet stuck in his clips. That’s one of the reasons I don’t like to wear clipped shoes, apart from looking stupid when you’re off the bike. Anyway, if I started to have clipped shoes, it would be a slippery road to wearing lycra!

All Is Well

Luckily he wasn’t hurt and was more embarrassed than anything. And after getting up off the ground, he started apologising to me, even though I thought it was my fault. After a few apologies from both sides, we parted, leaving me feeling a little guilty for causing the accident.

Not camping tonight as we decided we wanted to see Nantes and the campsite is quite a way out of town, so it’s a hotel again! I think that budget we set ourselves has gone completely out of the window today!

Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.