Meretz to Saint Quentin – 29km
26C (felt hot!)
Terrain: hilly country roads and busy roads

So, I’m in the middle of the countryside happily running down a hill with Bob. The next thing I now, I hear a noise, CRASH, we’re grinding to a halt with no right wheel! S*** (sorry kids). Man down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

First thought, I’m in the middle of nowhere and I have a very heavy two wheeled (meant to be three-wheeled) buggy. Second thought, calmly think through the problem.

I gathered the wheel and with quite a herculean effort, attempted to move Bob to a safer place away from traffic.

To cut a long story short, the wheel shaft wasn’t broker (phew!), the wheel screw had jammed and popped the wheel out. I now have a new profession as a Bob mechanic! Cleared the jam and we were back on our way, thank goodness!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then started reflecting on my reaction to crisis because although this incident may not seem like a big deal, I would have been in a bit of a pickle! I realised that on many occasions in my life so far, I’ve dealt with crisis situations very calmly at the time (in the most part) and then freak out a little later when things are resolved. Today was no exception!

Anyway, soon after, look where Bob and I found ourselves, Madagascar!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a lovely stretch in the middle of the route today, a countryside road with barely any cars, pure bliss, I haven’t had that in a few days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then towards the end, I was struggling a little on the busy roads (hot and stressed by traffic) when I crossed a canal. After consulting my map and realising it took me in the right direction, I dropped back onto the canal path. Again, pure bliss and very beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty shattered today so I’m going to take a rest day tomorrow. I just felt like I was running on empty (excuse the pun). I think it’s the hills and the heat.

This is the elevation chart over the past couple of days. While not massive, there isn’t much flat!

 

 

Looking at my Garmin watch, the number of calories burned has increased significantly during the past few days, due to these hills (and that doesn’t take into account pushing Bob!) and it’s pretty hard to replenish them all. So, you guessed it, lots of food for today and tomorrow. Yay!

Have started already with my favourite 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn’t catch the road sign arriving in Saint-Quentin but I have a replacement!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I’m lucky to spend my rest day in a really nice place. I knew nothing about Saint Quentin before arriving here today, my first large town in France. It’s beautiful and has a cathedral, a large town square in the centre and some lovely architecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to visit a little more tomorrow. Today, the legs are up.