John’s epic French cycle: part 2
(As in Part 1: Days 1-7 all galleries are captioned.)
Day 8, Monday 14/09/26. Brantôme to Sarlat. 61 miles / 99 km. 4101 ft / 1250 m ascent.
Another pleasant day’s cycling – and another annoying beer-in-the-sunshine photo pinged to me!
Day 9, Tuesday 15/09/26. Rest day at Sarlat.
On their one and only non-cycling day John and Andy explored the medieval town of Sarlat-la-Canéda on foot. Not only was there an annoying beer photo that night, there was an annoying dessert photo too!
Day 10, Wednesday 16/09/26. Sarlat to Figeac. 68 miles / 110 km. 3937 ft / 1200 m ascent.
Along the Dordogne for a while, then a climb to L’Hospitalet before arriving in Figeac. The hotel there was in an interesting old building, but as part of the Mercure chain not inspiring otherwise.
Day 11, Thursday 17/09/26. Figeac to Entraygues. 35 miles / 58 km. 2854 ft / 870 m ascent.
Another day, another two rivers – this time the Lot to its confluence with the Truyère at Entraygues.
Day 12, Friday 18/09/26. Entraygues to Mende. 75 miles / 120 km. 6398 ft / 1950 m ascent.
An easy start continuing through pretty towns along the Lot followed by a brutal climb to the Col de Goudard (1022 m / 3353 ft) before descending into Mende.
Day 13, Saturday 19/09/26. Mende to Vallon Pont D’Arc. 76 miles / 123 km. 4594 ft / 1400 m ascent.
At the beginning of the day they were still travelling along the Lot, but by the end they were on the Ardèche, passing the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean on the way. The destination, Vallon Pont D’Arc, is named after its natural rock arch.
As you can see, the terrain is now much more rugged with mountain gorges and cols to climb. I’ll leave it there and come back wth part 3, including the biggest climb yet: Mont Ventoux.
Hi. Is this the longest cycling adventure, distance-wise, that John has had?
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Yes, by far! This was over 1000 miles. The only other long distance trip he has done, the Hebridean Way, was “only” about 200.
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What absolutely fabulous photos John took. I love the look of Sarlat-la-Canéda, the sort of French town I would have loved to have lived in. And what a blue sky. No clouds. He’s very naughty sending you beer photos, I hope you retaliated with a glass of red wine 🍷
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Yes, they enjoyed having the extra day to look round Sarlat. Most towns they arrived, cleaned themselves and their bikes, then had dinner and an earlyish night before getting back in the saddle again at 9 or 9.30 am. There will be a glass of red wine in the next post, but sadly not mine!
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What an amazing journey (despite the annoying photos of beers and desserts!). We have been to Figeac (we have friends living there); it is such a beautiful town and the region is beautiful too. Mont Ventoux is quite an accomplishment ! (Suzanne)
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All the towns he passed through or stayed in looked lovely. Mont Ventoux was definitely the biggest achievement.
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Great shots of some lovely places and gorgeous scenery, and I bet John took great delight in sending you those beer and dessert photos 😀
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I think there was a certain element of gloating involved! But he earned his beers.
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