Day 6: Fougères to Angers, France. 82 miles. 4100 feet of climbing. Lots of rain.

Fougères at 6am.  It's already raining.  Not a good way to start the day.

Last night's drizzle was, in fact, a prelude to the first two-thirds of today's ride.  We knew today was going to be a challenge. Most everyone was still trying to recover from yesterday's hills.  To add the insult of a cold, rainy day was just like poking at an open wound.

Last night's hotel wouldn't let us store our bikes in our rooms, most likely because their elevator was way too small.  So we all locked our bikes in their also very small garage.

Today was one of those "grin and bear it" kinds of days I've experienced on these multi-day rides.  Seems as though you'll always have a couple of them.  There's no escaping the rains.  And there's usually no respite for the cold, soggy socks, shoes and bike shorts you have throughout the ride.

One look at the rains outside and we all had second thoughts about getting on our bikes.  That's our BMW SAG car that Jesse has been driving every day.  We store all our luggage in the back, with supplies (including water, first aid, protein bars, etc. in the back seat.). Michelle's shoulder still hasn't healed as well as she'd like so she wisely rode with Jesse today.

Beyond the discomfort, the biggest challenges are the rain itself and the road conditions as a result.  Visibility can be tough.  Smooth road surfaces become slick.  The painted white lines on the roadway are your enemy.  You stay away from them or ride over them with extreme care.  The handling of the bike is different.  You stay more upright than normal.  You don't bank into a turn with the same angle or speed.  We don't inflate our tires to as high a pressure as on dry days.  You want as much of the tire to be in contact with the road surface as possible. You hold onto your handlebars with much more caution.  (I did learn a new word in French today:  gravillons (gravel).  As if the roads weren't already treacherous, some of the frontage roads along the highways were recently repaved and there was a lot of loose gravel/gravillons on the road surface.)

Riding alongside the Mayenne River, into Laval.  In virtually the same shot (no taken), we entered Chateau-Gontier.  Michelle and Jesse were god-sends today.  Out of nowhere, they were waiting for us at a rest area with hot chocolate from a nearby McDonald's.  Entering Chateau-Gontier, we turned right onto the bridge, left over the river and stopped.  Because there they were waiting for us with fresh hot pizza at an impromptu SAG stop.  Merci!

All that being said, it was just ugly for much of the day.  The riding, that is.  As we traveled south, we spent part of the time weaving around the Mayenne River, through villages such as Laval and Chateau-Gontier.  Riding alongside the river was a treat.  There is something special about those towns built up along the water.

The rains were finally ending so I felt good about stopping to take this shot of the fields of sunflowers.

And, finally, entering Angers.  That's the Chateau d'Angers, the 9th Century fortress (later renovated in the 12th Century)

Fortunately, there were a few breaks in between the rains, so I was able to take a few shots.  The best news, though, was that it stopped raining and the sun actually came out for awhile.  We rode the last 25 miles with sun and broken clouds.  Half an hour after we arrived, it started raining again.

As we were coming out of the restaurant from dinner this evening, I wanted to capture the color of the sky.  The shot is facing downtown with the Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers in the background.  I kid you not.  We were a five-minute walk back to our hotel and in less than three minutes, the skies opened up again and soaked us one last time.