Everyone finally arrived for our introductory briefing and dinner. First the plane bringing some in was late, then the van broke down. Yes, the van that is to carry all our luggage. There is no way we can do it ourselves. Of course several taxis solve the problem by bringing first the people, then more bags and lastly the bikes in boxes. It will all be worked out one way or another in the morning.
Some people have ridden together before ( I am one of 6 who rode from end to end of the UK 2 years ago), many are meeting for the first time. The group includes 3 Australians, 2 New Zealanders, 8 English, 1 American. We are led by two guides, Tom and Alex. I look forward to getting to know more of them as we go along
Abandoning our luggage to Alex we head out as we are ready for the 110+km start. Wending or way out of St Malo is an exercise in mastering roundabouts from the "wrong" side of the road and it is a relief to hit the country stretch.
Today's ride is pretty flat, with some insulation. We are going to end up travelling SW which is where the wind comes from so yes we end up in a headwind.
In the meantime there is the coastal road, stretches of which are suitably named Rue du Bords de Mer and Rue du Littoral. Sounds more exotic than Beach Road. We see Mont St Michel in the hazy distance and I am sorry we didn't get there, and I'm not adding any kilometres to today's trip.
It is a good thing that the countryside, along the coast and inland as we turn from it, are beautiful as that distracts from the continuous pedaling along the flat. I shouldn't harp on about it as it really isn't too bad, there were some undulations through picturesque villages and along mostly empty country roads. Everywhere is green and wonderful to look at and our luggage does arrive at the hotel around 7pm just in time to change for dinner. We had filled in the time quite nicely with lengthy lunch stop in the sun at Fougeres then beer on the hotel verandah overlooking the sculpture garden.
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