2009 Euro Tour -- Ride Day 1 -- 20 June 2009 -- 16250 Chadurie to 87200 Saint-Julien

Ride Day 1—20 June 2009—16250 Chadurie to 87200 Saint-JulienThe D16 segment was perfect low traffic beautiful road with mostly gentle climbs.

Near the end of the day, we passed from Charente to Haute-Vienne.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 Chaduri (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