2009 Euro Tour -- Ride Day 6 — 26 June 2009 — 03200 Vichy to 63300 Thiers

Despite the forecast of rain, we started out under mostly blue sky.  Before too long, we were skirting some seriously dark clouds rolling by and hearing distant thunder regularly.  As we were maybe seven or eight miles from our destination (the Etap in Thiers), we continued to hope we wouldn’t get dumped on. So much for hope…we ended up getting pelted by hail (thanks to the helmets, not such a problem but still somewhat noisy) and thoroughly drenched as the heavy downpour continued with no let-up at all for those remaining seven or eight miles.  Fortunately, the lady at the Etap was kind and she directed that we wheel our dripping bicycles through the lobby and into a back room.Background:My wife and I have been doing self-supported tours in Western Europe (a majority in France) since 1993.  This series of rides covers our 2009 4.5 month route through parts of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and then back to France.  Our beginning and ending point is near Chadurie (south of Angouleme) where our friends have a farm with Gites and Chambres d'Hotes.We rode our Dawes touring bicycles purchased in 1993 heavily loaded with 700Cx32 tires.  All of our riding was on paved roads, mostly with very little traffic.  Pretty much the only unpaved sections were some bicycle paths in Germany and Austria. Sadly, that wasn't so great as Helen fell a number of times on the unpaved paths.  Fortunately, though, no serious injury.If any questions, feel free to email me at jeffkadet@netdiving.comJeff