Day 9: Bordeaux to Parentis-en-Born 55 miles. 1000 feet of climbing. Vicious headwinds.

The view of Bordeaux as we crossed over the Garonne.  It was a quiet Sunday except for the three guys in handcuffs along the roadside as we passed downtown, the three police cars and the two ambulances.  Yeah, just a quiet Sunday.

In actuality, we stayed in Lormont, a suburb of Bordeaux.  Didn't know that until we arrived in our hotel last night.  So, this morning, we crossed over the Garonne River and into Bordeaux, riding through the city on our way south towards Parentis-en-Born.

Unfortunately, this was as close
as I got to seeing this famed
11th Century Cathedral.

I would have loved to have been able to walk around the city last night.  As it was, riding through it this morning didn't afford me the chance to really see much of the sights.  And those that I saw were brief glimpses.

As most of the folks I'm riding with don't live in big cities or major metro areas, there was a sense of "let's all ride together in a group until we get out of the city" this morning.  I'm used to that kind of cycling.  In fact, riding through Bordeaux this morning reminded me of cycling through Washington, D.C.  Smaller and less congested than Manhattan or Boston, but we still had to deal with car traffic, the many rail lines from the tram system throughout the city, and the general issues of crossing highways and bridges that were only meant for cars, not bikes.

Fortunately, I looked back as we were riding out of the city to see the
15th Century Tour Pey Berland Church

Once we were out of the city, we were on extremely narrow but dead straight roads through the Parc Naturel Régional des Landes de Gascogne.  Dead flat but into a hellacious headwind.  Let's just say it was ugly until we got to Parentis-en-Born and rode down to the lakeside (the Parentis-Biscarrosse Lac).   There's a cyclists expression that says "hills with make you stronger; the wind will make you angry."  If today was any example, truer words were never spoken.

Our hotel for the evening came with a free concert being given for a local couple who had just gotten married that afternoon.  That meant a very loud party going on into the wee hours.  Thank goodness for ear plugs!

Each room has a different theme.
Jesse's room was kitted out
with Hollywood posters.

For a change of pace, Jesse and I went down to the beach, about 100 meters away, to both catch some rays as well as to soak in the cool water.  The lake is incredibly shallow for at least 50 meters off shore, so it was an odd feeling to finally give up on walking farther out into the water and just settle down while the water still only came up to our thighs.  But, oh, did it feel good after today's ride to just immerse myself and cool down.

Tomorrow forecast into Biarritz (actually, another suburb, Anglet) is for rain.  Breaking out the rain jacket again tonight as I lay my things out for the morning.