2009 Euro Tour -- Ride Day 16 — 10 July 2009 — 89200 Magny (Avallon) to 58200 Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Another great, but tiring ride due to the continuing wind that hit us in the second half of the ride.  Just west of Etais-la-Sauvin, we started seeing road closure signs for Le Tour that would pass through on the 15th.  That included parts of D104 and D168 as well as some other nearby roads. On the way out of Sermizelles on local road VI10, there was a terribly steep climb that almost did us in.  We figured the VI stood for “very insane”.  Also, along that road just before the climb was a stone wall with beautifully carved faces and a friendly older man working in the garden who might have been the artist.  Sadly, my French was insufficient to learn more. We had a nice picnic lunch in Châtel-Censoir. Unexpectedly, we saw loose dogs several times during today’s ride.  They hindered our progress some and we even got chased once.  In our memory, this is the first time in France that this has been a problem.  Thinking back to Texas, however, is another story.  When living there in the 1980s, we carried a can of doggie-mace on our rides. Getting into Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, we were lost as usual with no idea where the Etap might be.  Fortunately at a boulangerie, a kind lady drew us a map and we successfully found the hotel.  Interestingly, it was a new hotel and the new design was terrible from our standpoint.  First, the stairwell was so compact that there was no place for the bicycles.  So, they stayed outside for the first time this trip.  Second, the room design had changed slightly so there were now fewer places to hang drying clothes.  Sad, huh?During the day, we passed from the Yonne Department in the Bourgogne Region to the Nièvre Department, which is also in the Bourgogne Region. 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