The ride is starting to wind down as we only have today and tomorrow until arriving in Rennes tomorrow to complete our unforgettable tour of Brittany in France.
I've heard the term of being in the flow previously have taken it to mean that what you are doing is so effortless that time just will fly by. There are times, if you are fortunate, that you will experience this while biking. Today the temperatures were perfect, the road surface was like butter, the gears were meshing perfectly and the cadence allowed you to make smooth circles as you rotated the pedals. Time just melted away and you simply flowed through the atmosphere with no effort at all. The flow doesn't occur frequently, but when it does, you need to savor it.
As in previous days, we have been blessed with wonderful weather and riding conditions. As we started, the temperatures were in the upper 60's, a nice way to start the ride. As we left Vannes, we wound our way through the town's quite streets. A three day jazz music festival is being held in Vannes and maybe there was a bit too much partying held last night.
By the 6 mile mark, we were into the countryside climbing and following the gently climbing roadways into the interior of Brittany and away from the coast where we have spent much of the past 2 weeks. It was only at the 10 mile mark that I had noticed that the temperature was about 70 or so. I was going to be a bit warmer today that other days.
As we climbed, we came across a small pasture with a couple of horses. As we stopped to make adjustments, one of the horses made its way to the edge of the fence, perhaps looking for a snack from us. It was a nice break.
About 12 miles in, we wound our way through a small town and past a church (all towns in France seem to have a church in the center, often much larger than you would expect for a small town) and found a group of our biking buddies at a local cafe with a patisseries next door. Lauri and I grabbed some pastries and Jim ordered up 3 coffees and we snacked and sipped as we savored the early morning.
The highlight of the day was toward the end. The temperatures had risen to the lower 80's and the sun was starting to get pretty warm. About 15 miles from the end, the route wrapped it's way through a small town, just packed with restaurants and dinners and with one or two additional turns, we found ourselves riding on a tree covered canal path, nicely paved with boats and locks.
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