Day 25 - To Chartres and a bit of tech talk



24th April 2018

 After a climb off the Loire flood plain today's ride was a distinctly unhilly affair through large arable fields.  I was happy just trundling along.  Song for the day - This Land is Your Land (unsanitised version) with a bit of Bruce Springsteen influence.  I got a bit carried away and think I alarmed a pedestrian in a small village I was passing through.

The day was scheduled  to be a 90 mile ride but ended up being 95 owing to road works.  Usually I can get through closed roads with a bit of cooperation from the workmen.  This time I came across a low barrier and a sign saying that the road was closed for the next 200m.  Sure enough 200m away there was another barrier.  It seemed that work hadn't started and no one was around.  However, after stepping over the barrier a car drove up with 2 workmen who told me I couldn't go through.  They asked where I was headed and were a bit taken aback when I told them Chartres (still 70 miles away).  They still didn't take pity so it was a 5 mile detour.

Never mind, it was still a pleasant ride and we are now at a very pretty campsite close to the centre of the city.





For anyone interested in these things here is a bit of info about the gizmos and software we are using on the trip.  

 Before setting off we upgraded our mobile phone accounts so that we now have 40GB data per month which can be used throughout Europe including Norway.  I have a Garmin bike computer, with inbuilt GPS, which stores the details of my rides. Each ride is then uploaded to the Strava web site.  The device can display a pre loaded route and give turn by turn directions along with showing about 200m of the road up ahead.  We plan each ride using a program called "Ride with GPS".  This allows us to create the route which is loaded into the bike computer.  As back up e.g. when you end up with a detour, I sometimes use the routing feature on Google Maps.

 Another great feature of the Garmin computer is that it can send GPS data to my mobile phone and this info can be relayed to Jacqui's phone so she knows exactly where I am and can track my progress so she knows exactly when to put the kettle on!

 Wake up at the back!

Comments

  1. Anonymous25 April 2018 at 03:37

    Great pace for the day Martin. I like your campsites too - none of those car parking space sized plots we had with Eurocamp. Peter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin Bradley25 April 2018 at 10:00

      We've had one or two of those as well Peter, especially in Spain but nice hot showers in all!

      Delete
  2. John & Tony27 April 2018 at 05:12

    John found that very interesting. Tony is asleep!

    ReplyDelete

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