2019-03-26 43 1

Tue 26 Mar 2019 in 43,1: 43.8715833, 1.2347694 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On the roadside in Verdun-sur-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, near Dieupentale, Tarn-et-Garonne.

Participants

User:epingchris

Plans

Take the morning TER train from Toulouse to Dieupentale along with my bike, and then go from there by bike.

Expedition

Got up relatively early to prepare for all my bike equiments and things I need for going to work directly after. Luckily my bike remains rideable after several months of inactivity (covered, but still under a rainy winter).

At the station, when I tried to get the 1-euro "Evasio' futé" train ticket, the machine told me to pay 3 euros instead (turns out it only applies if you buy the train ticket in the app) What's more, that price does *not* apply to the train that I needed to take...That's about the most eventful that has happened for today, though.

After I arrived at the Dieupentale station, the second (and last) challenge is to carry my bike, which is not exactly lightweight, all across a pedestrian bridge (What, you expected an elevator? I was lucky this station had a platform), and then off we go.

Every time I resumed cycling after a long dormancy period in winter (when I really really don't have the courage to get on the wheels), I am reminded over and over again how liberating and jubilant it is to ride a bike, especially in the countryside. The sky was pure pastel blue, bushes had started to resprout, and the canal was calm except for the constant chirping all around. It was a good day for me to kick off my 2019 cycling season despite the chilly morning air.

The route given by Google Maps was relatively straightforward (and I noticed that there were only one true left turn, the others were all right turns.) I stopped only twice to take a picture and twice to check my directions, and in 20 minutes I was there, at the end of a smoothly curved portion of a small (and really not well-paved) country road, where it bends towards another direction. An unpaved trail branched off on the left, leading to what seemed like a private domain.

There it is, my first geohash! I had enough time to snap some shots of myself and the surroundings (plus the obligatory screenshot), before I started my way back to the station, this time taking another route to take in some more scenery. More cars started appearing on some of the major roads, and at one roundabout near the canal, there was even a slight traffic jam (involving two trucks), unexpected for a "bled" ("village in the middle of nowhere" in French) like this.