First leg finished!

Day 28 was the third day in a row that I only managed to ride into the thirties (of miles) as I was taking it nice and steady to avoid having to wait on my own in the chalet in Morzine for too long. I cut across a couple of valleys on small roads from Moudon, then descended off the mountains into Vevey on the shore of Lac Leman. I wandered around the market there and bought a couple of bits to throw in my pasta before following the cycle and footpath right beside the lake into Montreux. I sourced some camping and internet in the TI (tourist info) there - I only checked my emails on the computer as it was stupidly expensive to use - and then got back on the cycle path and followed it past the Chateau de Chillon and into Villeneuve.

View of Lac Leman from the cafe in Villeneuve

I had a small salad and beer in a cafe beside the lake whilst I read my book for a couple of hours to kill some time before I set off for the campsite on the other side of town. I set up camp and just as I was finishing cooking my pasta, the girl from the caravan next to me turned up with a friend and, after seeing me sat on the floor eating my food on my own, asked if I wanted to join them for a drink. I spent an hour chatting to Alexis, whose caravan it was (she was living in it as living in Montreux is very expensive), and through her, Crystal (she didn't speak any English), before they invited me to come along with them to the music festival which was on in town centre. The evening involved me meeting all of their friends, chatting about my trip and other random things, drinking port and dancing to versions of songs like 'Back In The USSR' sung with heavy french accents! We got back to the campsite and carrying on talking round her table before finally going to bed at 2.30am.

I woke before my alarm at 11 and once I had got out of my tent and seen that the weather was grey and overcast, I decided I was going to cycle all the way to the chalet and be warm and dry instead of paying to possibly get wet in a campsite. I followed the lakeside road all the way from Montreux to Thonon-les-Bains, stopping in Evian for a coffee, sandwich and bottle of water. From Thonon, I cycled all the way up the Gorges du Pont du Diable, which wasn't too bad as it was nice and cool (it gently rained on me just as I was entering Evian but had stopped by then) and I had the incentive of a hot shower and a proper bed to sleep in! I made it to the Lac de Montriond for half 5 and because I had no food (small supermarkets are closed on sundays), I had a nice plate of roasted duck in a green peppercorn sauce (surprisingly one of the cheapest on the menu) before jumping back on the bike for the 10 minute pedal up to the chalet, where I crashed out after reading my book in a nice double bed!

Arriving at L'Eau Vive in Ardent, nr Morzine (can be hired out - see http://www.familyski.co.uk)

The next 4 days were spent chilling out in the chalet and down by the lake, eating a variety of foods that had nothing to do with pasta (homemade burgers with all the trimmings, horse sausages etc...), cycling the 'Col de la Jeux Verte' in both directions, once without any extra weight on my bike at all and wandering around Morzine. On day 34, James/Bob/Tom2 arrived with a pink van load of bikes in the evening and after the morning emptying the van and getting my back wheel (on my road bike) straightened in Morzine, the rest of the Thirsty Knights arrived in the rain and we spent the evening in the chalet being highly entertained by a certain someone and a bottle of gin!

Days 36, 37 and 38 were all spent on the mountain bike on the downhill trails around Les Gets, Morzine, Chatel and Morgins. The weather was brilliant, the biking was even better, nobody came off and badly hurt themselves and only one expensive, carbon bike was snapped in half!

Everybody left to fly back to England on the wednesday, leaving me all on my own and feeling a bit lonely after 5 days of company. I spent a good few hours cleaning and maintaining the bike, ready for the next leg down to Perpignan and the Mediterranean and the rest of the day relaxing, as I have done today. I am now packed and ready to set off, leaving early tomorrow morning and heading towards Annecy and, for the first time since the first post, I am now completely up to date!

Total mileage covered: ~1200 miles.