11 juin – Rode for 3.5 hours

Broke camp (our bona fide campsite), and headed to the café for breakfast. Caught up on the race news with the Dauphine and l’Equipe. Then drove to Carpentras en route to Annecy. First stop was the Decatholon store on the outskirts of Carpentras. We then followed the autoroute towards the Vercors. Next stop was St. Nazaire en Royans for a pique-nique on the edge of the Vercors. We then drove to St. Eulaine-en-Royans, and attempted to ride the Grand Goulets. Falling rocks and impenetrable gates required us to abort our route, and ride back to St. Eulaine. Marci then graciously resumed her role as Directeuse Sportive, and followed us as we rode through the Vercors. We rode D54 to St. Jeans-en-Royans, and after a brief misdirection, we followed D76 to ride through the Combe Laval and climb the Col de la Machine. The climb was tougher than we expected – and took me about 44 minutes to climb. After a few Kodak moments, we descended D2 in to St. Laurant-en-Royans and then headed back to St. Eulaine. Boogied along the autoroute, navigated Annecy perfectly, and then drove southward to Talloires. Set up our camp and then dined at the Starkville Café East. After dinner, we had a few lakeside beers, and then called it a night.