Back Out There

Day: 380
Rochemaure to Bagnols Sur Ceze
Time: 3:07
Distance: 55.5 km
Avg Speed: 17.8 kph
Terrain: Flat to rolling
Location: N 44˚ 09’ 57.1”, E 04˚ 36’ 58.0”

We left our little haven this morning and rolled out under dark, wet skies. I forgot the cable lock in the parking lot, so I got to roll out twice. The dark skies lightened up the further south we got, and our tailwind picked up a bit. We made good time through the countryside and got to our destination early afternoon. We could have gone further today, but lodging choices have been slim in France and we have been trying to stay in bigger towns. We passed several campgrounds as well today, but true to the trend they were closed. I am beginning to think of the tent on the back of my bike as an anchor.
Leslie wrote a very good blog today concerning the need to vote for the environment. She did stop short of endorsing anyone, but you could probably get a real good idea who it would be if you checked out the League of Conservation Voters website (www.lcv.org). The website lists the voting records for the candidates as well as other members of our government. Yes it is green, yes it is ‘liberal’, and yes the angle is slanted. Everything you read, hear and see these days is the same. Being out in the world we are able to see the news that everyone else is interested in. The past several weeks has seen a shift from the big OPEC vote that went down to the big goat turd of an economic mess the world is in right now. We have forgotten about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs). It isn’t about the price of gas (FYI, it is €1.44/liter here…do the math), it isn’t about the retirement fund that took a dump (it did everywhere, for everyone), it is about what kind of world we make for ourselves and leave for the future generations. If we remove the bottom of the pyramid, it really doesn’t matter what is above it. Do we need to revert to a Gilligan’s Island lifestyle? No, but we need to at least be aware of what we are doing and how that creates turbulence in the world around us. Positive actions or negative actions all have reactions in the world.
I guess Leslie’s little rant brought one on that I had been thinking of. You can tell that we have been holed up for a couple of days and needed to get moving again. I can’t promise that we won’t write and more diatribes, but if we do we will warn you at the beginning so you can skip them over.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
More travel, less drivel.
CK