Bergues to Amettes, France

If I thought my butt and nether regions were a bit sore yesterday, today I can safely say it's all really quite tender.... There doesn't seem to be any easy resolution to the discomfort I feel, particularly since there seem to be blisters involved - all I can say is I hope that I become acclimatized to the saddle, sooner than later.  And while I'm busy whining I might as well mention that my knees aren't all that happy either.  The odd thing is that none of these things troubled me much during my training rides, but maybe it was because I was stopping frequently for chats and coffees and did not have 15 kg of gear with me.

A lunch stop in beautiful Cassel

Lunch

In any case, we covered 61 km today over mostly flat terrain.  I think we'll need at least a week of this distance to build the stamina we need to do longer rides, though I must say Alison seems to be faring better than me in this regard.  I put it down to her super duper bike, but perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that she is a former Ironman triathelete and she knows how to go the distance without fading or wingeing like her companion?

The yard at Mme Gevas's

Regardless, we are here in Amettes, at a lovely Chambre d'Hôte in the home of Colette and Jean-baptiste Gevas.  The hospitality here will likely be unparalleled, and so we have to remember that we are being spoiled.  Madame Gevas is doing our laundry for us and making our dinner and this will not happen again in the near future.  It smells fantastic (not the laundry, but the meal) but it's still 3 hours away.

Amettes is the birthplace of St Benoit Labre, who was himself a pilgrim, rejected by the trappists when he wanted to be a monk, and spent his life roaming to holy sites in Europe.  He is said to have made over 130 cures, levitated and multiplied loaves of bread.  Ironically, he died of malnutrition at the age of 35.  We should really go and pay homage to him at the church, but I'm not sure that either of us have the energy this evening.

Tomorrow, we'll have a shorter (yes please) but hillier (if that's a word) ride to the large-ish town of Arras.  There, I will visit a bike shop (my brakes are constantly squeaking) and Decathlon, a sporting goods mega store, where I will buy another pair of cycling shorts with lots more padding, and a pair of rain pants - just to add a bit more weight to my panniers!

But for now, I think I'll follow Alison's lead once again, and head to my bunk for a nap before dinner.