Thursday 9 August 2012

Tour d'Evans: day 14

The hill at Luzivilly

We left Guingcamp for the penultimate leg to Morlaix. Now, if you are like me, you will have had those cycling moments when youknow that you've made the wrong turn but carry on regardless - such was the case at Luzivilly . . . You know the score; the road forks and' confused by the french proclivity for numbering two quite different routes with the same designation, you have to decide which to take in that split second before necessitating the ritual of having to stop, unclip, waddle to side of road and then get going again. So, I went left, and instantly knew it was the wrong choice when I saw 'the wall' of Luzivilly which I laboured up with cursing and swearing, noting all the while the numbers painted at the roadside as if counting down the climb, and the great big white line painted across the road at the crest (more of that later). Now, I know that you are waiting in breathless anticipation for me to relate what happened to S . . . Well, I think she's still back there somewhere . . . No, I jest, and this is the most astounding part of the tale - she got to the top WITHOUT GETTING OFF. Chapeau to S.

It turns out that the hill at Luzivilly ws the finish for the Breton cycling champipnship a few years back, and you can see the competitors tackling the horrific gradient sans panniers here (wimps):

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdl7s2_le-championnat-de-bretagne-de-cycli_sport

The expression on S's face is less triumphant than it might have been given that I had just informed her that there was an alternate route around the hill!


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