Cycling trip day 8
Didn't get much sleep. Heavy rain was rattling on the tent the whole night and the birds in the nearby trees had decided to have a big party it seemed. It was also raining heavily in the morning when I needed to start packing up. This meant I had to pack up the tent completely wet. Next night would need to be a hotel room to dry things.
Completely drenched I rode down to the nearby town Le Thillot for something to eat. Apparently the town had a festival today, lots of food stalls and music shows, including one straight from a US western. Had a nice brunch at a boulangerie and wandered throughout the stalls for a bit.
The rain that had paused for a while picked up as I set out towards Épinal. The first 25km or so was a really nice cycle way down through the valley. The rain was coming down quite heavily but my shoes and shorts were already completely wet from yesterday so I felt like not caring and didn't even bother to put on the rain gear.
Towards Épinal the cycle way turned into roadside cycling, but at least the weather started drying up. Most of the ride was downhill so very little effort and a lot of time to look at scenery.
Épinal is a really nice small town, sitting on the majestic Moselle river. Since I had lots of wet gear I took a cheap room at the central Ibis hotel and spread out everything around the room to dry. Found a snail that had hitchhiked within my tent footprint, and still alive. Gently moved the little one outside on the window sill. Hopefully it wasn't something that will totally demolish the Épinal area wildlife 😅.
Went for a few beers before crashing in bed. The river looked beautiful at night <3
Distance cycled: 57.84km (today), 456.74km (total)
