After the Sprint on Sunday – much nervous energy and 22 minutes of riding! – we then had a model/training event on Monday in preparation for the Middle and Long Distance events which are described as each having two very different forest areas: one frequented by the public, the other used for hunting. So we headed out on Monday to see what all that meant and found very rough and pitted tracks and rides (apparently deer-damaged). I found anything off ‘smooth’ major tracks to be almost unrideable and an hour of bouncing along and hanging on while trying to keep forward motion, very tiring. Was not looking forward to Tuesdays Middle Distance event.
As it turned out, where they took us (at least the older classes) was much easier riding and we could concentrate more on the navigation. I made a couple of silly errors but was never going to be fast enough to get another win. Just beaten into third! (Now if I get a silver medal tomorrow, I’ll have the full set.) But it was a long day – first starters and then an hour or so in quarantine after we finished (to prevent us giving advice to later starters). Then on Tuesday night a pleasant dinner at a riverside restaurant in Combeaux with most of the Australian contingent. So I needed a day off!
id planned to visit the gardens at the Chateau Villandry (just south of Toirs) and after a bit of a hassle start to the day, that’s what I did.
travellingkathy 