Day 5 - Fresselines to Aubusson

A shorter day today, woohoo! But a day of ups and downs, lots of them.  We were able to have a bit of a lie in this morning as we were 6 miles further on than the others, so getting a good night's sleep and then getting up for a leisurely breakfast at 8am was a treat.

After a very agreeable breakfast with two GOOD cups of coffee, a little fetter with the bikes we set off at a fairly easy pace.  Nigel (Peak Tours Guide) had mentioned that the route dropped into gorges and valleys and climbed back out many times.

The first brew stop was quite early for our group, but we stopped anyway, any excuse for a cuppa!  We had some very crazy and noisy cows in the field next to us, see photo below!  We hung around at the brew stop for a while until the Aussies arrived and a few others and then set out as a big group again.  Today, however was not a route for big group riding, it was just too hilly.  The ups split us up and the downs never quite seemed to bring us back together again.  I cycled a bit on my own, caught up with people, lost people and so on, however in the miles leading up to lunch I was cycling with Neil (the doc)...still must ask him about my caffeine and salt intake...Neil today was wearing a Chianti cycling top, I promise I wasn't thinking about "liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti".

The lunch stop was in a lovely setting beside another beautiful French church, I could get very used to these picnic lunch stops, they are relaxed and easy and a good chance to speak to people without being at a restaurant table.

The afternoon brought some stunning villages and views, the big group started out but was quickly blown apart by the hills.  A few of us regrouped at a view point looking through a gorge and with a fantastic viaduct (I do love a bit of good construction work!).  Our afternoon brew stop could not have been in a prettier place Moutier d'Ahun, stunning, just stunning.  We then upped and downed through the Valley de la Creuse until we entered Aubusson, our stop for the night.

A simply stunning town with obviously a lot of history that on a one-night-stop there is not enough time for, but I have taken to wandering around with my camera in order to try and get a feel for the place.

My hotel for the night is the Hotel La Beauze, lovely place with fantastic owners...take this as a recommendation.

https://www.strava.com/activities/361869963

Miles - 51 miles
Ascent - 1100m
Rode with - Pretty much everyone, Neil for a good while before lunch, Zach, Becky and some of the Aussies for a bit, Dan and Bob at the end
Cols - Again, none! :-(
Weather - Hot and sunny...topped out on my Garmin at 39 degrees
Extra interesting bits - Viaducts and mad, noisy cows. The gorges and geography of the area is fascinating.