2009 Euro Tour -- Ride Day 5 —25 June 2009—63390 Saint Gervais d'Auvergne to 03200 Vichy

Today’s start was the exact opposite from yesterday’s start.  Instead of the initial five miles being non-stop climbing, today’s start was five miles of non-stop descending.All of the roads today were great, but one in particular was especially good.  That was D99 that went through very beautiful country for maybe ten miles.

During the day, we passed from Puy-de-Dôme into Allier.

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