Wednesday 18th May – Ride Day 6:
Day 6 of France en Velo saw us take on 94 miles between Souillac and Entraygues-Sue-Truyere, still in the Occitania region but moving east into the Aveyron department.
We split in to two groups at the start, split by 45 minutes, and all left the hotel by 7.30 (before breakfast started so we departed on porridge pots !). In the end the groups never merged and the gap had actually widened.
The route continues to delight on quiet and well tarmaced roads. Consensus was that today took us through the most spectacular scenery so far … it almost took our minds off the pain of cycling in mid 30 degrees heat and for the 6th day running!
The total amount of climbing was similar to previous days but individual climbs were longer and a little steeper – hopefully preparing us for some real challenging assents to come tomorrow !?
Today’s notables:
– Again the spectacular rivers we road alongside for endless meandering kilometres … most notably the Dordogne and the Lot
– Rocamadour .. wow !! A stunning village on the side of a gorge.
– Gramat where we stopped for the deferred breakfast (all the left over croissants/pain aux chocolate at a hotel by the station for the lead group with our group fuelling on quiche and caffeine).
– Assier for another unplanned stop to rehydrate on Orangina
– Figeac for another welcome sit down and lunch in a lovely busier town. The lead group opting for a McDonalds.
– The last 20 mile run in to Entraygues all alongside the Lot river, winding through some delightful villages.
The hotel, Le Clos St George, is idyllic – a beautiful house and accompanying gite run by a a lovely couple who have made us so welcome. The experience has been enhanced by the beer put in your hand on arrival; the offer of the empty gite so we all, except Byrney & Aspey, get a separate room (a massive contrast from last night but all the accommodation so far has been fantastic and the variation so far has really added to the experience!).
The offer of their washing machine to clean some of our kit 😊 … and we’re now sat outside waiting for the appetites before being served dinner at the property 🎉
