Cycle Touring Day 42

Whilst getting ready to leave camp this morning, I noticed that my rear tyre was beginning to look a little worn and had a nasty little gash in the side wall which would eventually burst. It must be a result of the brief off-roading I had done coming back from Wales in April and the few dusty, stoney tracks I'd had to navigate occasionally so far in France. They are not off-road tyres so are clearly not up to that challenge. I had seen a bike shop in Cherbourg last night so that was my first stop en route today.

Unfortunately the shop was only really geared up for town and commuting bikes so had no tyres suitable for touring. So, just outside of the town I stopped by the side of the road, on an ample grass verge between the road and the sea I hasten to add,  and swapped both tyres around. I also took the time to clean both wheels and spokes as I did so, so by the time I eventually got away from Cherbourg it was almost 14:00. But, as you can see from today's photos, the weather was amazing so I knew that I would have a nice long day to make the distance in the afternoon and evening.

Essentially today I cycled the north west corner of the Cotentin Peninsula. As I was really just pressing on towers camp today and enjoying cycling in the blazing sunshine, I didn't really stop in many places this afternoon. I saw a few paragliders somewhere along the route, but with the SLR tucked away inside the BOB bag, I only had the iPhone to hand so from a distance they are nothing special really. I decided that from today though I would carry the SLR and zoom lens up front in the handlebar bag should chances for shots like that occur again.

There were some very tough climbs this afternoon so I stopped for lunch at the top of a particularly long one up at Laye and with views as you can see below, the pain was soon forgotten.

After arriving late at camp, I took the SLR to the beach and tried a few more sunset shots, this time with the zoom lens. I love the last two pics from today.

A memorial at the very tip of the Contentin Peninsula at Goury/Auderville.

The view from Laye where I stopped for lunch.

And from a little farther around.