Day 3 – Erdevan to St Nazaire

Another beautiful calm morning and I manage to get off by 9:30. All is quiet at first but then I join the D22 to Auray and find that France has woken up – the zombie apocalypse had not carried everyone off, rather they are all going to Auray, including quite a few articulated lorries blasting past me to start their week.

Auray is a smallish town, but I have to navigate through to the other side, while negotiating rush hour traffic all driving on the right. All goes well until I come to a roundabout where as I head for the 2^nd exit an old chap on a e-bike cuts me up by nipping around me to take the 1^st exit, muttering something to me as he goes. I then get confused as to where there are or are not bike lanes, by now a familiar problem.

I then cross  a long bridge spanning one of the rivers flowing into the Golfe and stop in the village of Le Bono for my morning coffee. Then onwards towards Vannes, guess a route through the narrow streets and emerge on the harbour front, very pleasant place indeed, classic French architecture, tree-bordered paths along the quayside, yachts clinking in the sunshine. Good place for the sandwich. 

Sandwich in Vannes harbour

I set off in what I think is the right direction but pleased to come across a VR45 sign on the edge of town and off again. I find myself on a nasty main road but a VR45 sign takes me down a short track and on to a quiet back road that parallels the main road for some miles, which is very pleasant riding.

It's now hitting about 30°, and I need to stop so pull into a field and lie on the grass under some oak trees, gazing at vapour trails and watching how the wind makes the leaves on trees around me shimmer, as in an Impressionist painting.

By 3 o’clock in the afternoon I am nearly out of water, and there are no bars or cafés on my route where I can refill my bottles, so I stop at an Intermarche supermarket and buy a 1.5 L bottle, which I almost empty immediately. It reassures me that I will have enough to get to the end of the day. The D47 winds on, and by about 4:30 I come into St Nazaire. Helen has sent me some W3W coordinates, so I work out where they are and navigate through the city, down to the docks where the refurbishment of some enormous passenger liners is underway. Some glitches meeting up with Helen due to the inconsistencies of how the W3W app works, but eventually we find each other.

At this point I have to cheat a little. To cross the Loire from St Nazaire means crossing a long suspension bridge with a steep ascent and descent and token bicycle lanes. It is described as dangerous for bicycles, so the bike goes on the back of the van and we drive over, then continue for a couple of miles until we find our stopping place for the night.

That was a long day, 72 miles, and while only 1120 feet of ascending, I was cycling into a steady easterly headwind all day and it was hot, very hot. But I have turned the corner and am now heading south.

This ride is to raise money for the work of World Bicycle Relief. Please make a donation now!