Day 36, 26 6 2013, Auphelle to Montlucon

Unusually for me, there is not much to say about today.

We rode out around the lake which turns out to be man-made, through beautiful moss-covered forest.  There was a bit of climbing in the morning but this was a much easier day than yesterday.

Through the day we moved from the steeper and higher country that characterizes the Limosuine area into rolling pastoral country, but with a difference. 

As you look out ove

r this country it looks like continuous forest, but this appearance is due to about 10% of the ground being covered by large oak trees.  We don’t know why this is.

During the day we descended, in fits at starts, around 450 meters, before riding into the large centre of Montlucon.  The roads were superb, we hardly saw any traffic in the morning.  There are numerous signs about various bike routes, which given the nature of the roads and countryside is hardly surprising.

Despite quite strong headwinds, rare on this trip, it was easier than I anticipated from the map.  The Michelin map shows our main road today with a lot of wiggles, which is rarely a good sign.

So the system worked again today.  We easily found a hotel in this large centre and all is good.

Tomorrow will be a bit of a change, and for the next few days, the last in this trip we will be on more or less flat country following big rivers and canals into Paris.

111Km for the day, easier than expected.

 


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On to Day 37