RideEatCamp

Dole

Europe

Since my crash yesterday damaged one of my panniers, we wanted to figure out a way patch it. Rain was forecasted. Continuing with a hole in my pannier wouldn’t be wise.

Because I was already carrying a small tube of marine glue, all I needed was a good patch. After a couple of dead ends we found an all in one patch kit at the local Decathlon, the French equivalent to Sports Basement. The kit included a piece of PVC fabric. Combined with the glue we had a solution!

I just have to note how handy this type of glue has been on our trip. We used it to seam seal the patch in our tent in Ireland, damned fox, I glued down a loose piece of seam tape in my rain jacket, we’ve patched our inflatable pillows multiple times as they’ve sprung leaks, we’ve already used it on my pannier, and I intend to use it to repair some holes in my little waterproof sack I use for storing the camera. A lot of people rely on duct tape as a useful fix anything solution, but I’ll be packing some marine glue on all future trips.

We then had to decide where to go next. We had ridden to the Decathlon using a very sweet cycle path out of Besanรงon. The path is part of the Euro Velo Route 6, which we later found out follows the big rivers in Europe. Since the path was shaded and well paved we decided to use it to get to Dole, not necessarily closer to the Alps, where we were heading, but not too out of the way either.

The riding was very pleasant, and then all of a sudden it wasn’t. Thunder clapped nearby and rain and wind soon followed. We took shelter under a bridge just before the floodgates opened. After a twenty minute downpour the rain stopped as quickly as it started and we were off again, feeling lucky that we came to the bridge in time.