Day six. Not paradise today.

Fougeres to Angers. Miles: 83. Feet: 4,098

I woke to the soothing sound of water in the fountain, and then recalled there was no fountain. It was the sound of a downpour of rain, my biggest fear. I thought, maybe, everyone would agree to delay the start, but no, we decided to set off at 8:00, as planned. There was a steady stream of rain when we pulled away from the hotel on rain slick cobblestones. We road the village streets carefully to the edge of town where we entered a busy highway. The traffic was heavy and fast and semi trucks sprayed us thoroughly when they flew by. The temperature was in the 50’s, and by mile 5 my feet and hands were numb. We road cautiously and slowly. It has been hot and dry here and the rain brought oil to the surface of the road. I focused on the oil slicks, the white lines, and manhole covers since any one of those can take a cyclist down in the blink of an eye. We were on every type of road available today, cobblestone streets, highways, country roads, bike paths, and interstate highways. The rain continued all day, and I rode heads down with full attention on the road. I can’t describe much of what I saw because I didn’t see much. We visited two major cities, Laval, where we stopped for warm pizza to keep us going, and then Angers at the end of the day. Angers is a beautiful city with a Roman castle, many universities and colleges, and a vibrant art district. After the end of the ride, I visited the castle, the museum gardens and the cathedral where I had a nice, long chat about politics with the greeter. Even though it had a rocky start, today ended up being another great day Tomorrow is a big day, 88 miles and lots of climbing. The forecast is for cool, sunny weather. Perfect of taking a bike ride.