Day 1: Dieppe to Noyant-Villages
Little sleep was had last night, which tends to happen whilst parked up for the
So I've now had sometime to become accustomed to the ways of the Trans Am Tour. Somethings stay the same (cycling) whilst there are, not surprisingly, new things.
One of the new things is "your daily high and low" where, not suprisingly, each of us recounts are best and worst moment of the day.
So today, both my low and high points occured in the town of Draper.
Each morning I look at the route to determine where my (typically ice cream) stops are going to be. Well today Draper seemed like a good spot as all services were available there and it was some 30 miles into a 56 mile cycle. However, on arrival into what appeared to be the (one horse) town of Draper, what appeared to be the only gig in town was closed and boarded up! This was a low point for me as I was most definately ready for some refreshment. So I consulted the map to see how much further to the next possible refreshment stop (5 miles) and considered riding off route to a petrol (gas) station that I could see in the distance (sign post was one of those that is positioned way up on a pole), probably a half mile or so away.
Ultimately I decided to batter on down the road for 5 miles to the next town. However, shortly after setting off (probably 500 yards or so round the corner) I came accross the Blue Door Cafe. Well initially I raced passed it, but eventually my brain caught up with my legs and I executed a U-turn and went to the cafe.
And, what an absolutely magnificent surprise; it was a little oasis of good food, coffee and ice cream. Indeed, the seasonal ice cream was blueberry and pomegranate, which was both delicious and the high point of the day.
So the Blue Door Cafe of Draper is definitely recommended.
Adell and Brenden in the Blue Door Cafe.
Also, I was soon joined by Adell, Christi and Brenden. Adell asked me if I had been soaked by the rain, which I had not because, by then, I'd been in the cafe for nearly an hour! And the heavy shower had passed by as I was enjoying ice cream. So yet another near miss with the wet stuff. Accordingly, today has been classified as a non rainy day. Although it did absolutely pour with rain at about 6.39pm but, by this time, we were all ensconced in the Wytheville Presbyterian Church!