Friday 27th May: An easy day...in theory. And it was not too bad. 156 kms from Couiza to here in Cap D'Agde on the Med coast. Last night while we slept in the Castle in Couiza, it poured down with rain. Fortunately in the morning it was just a light drizzle but it was decidedly cooler and the forecast was we might get a bit damp in the early part of the days riding. We set off at 9am and as per usual - we were into a climb fairly quickly in the days riding- yes a pattern developing here. It was a moderate climb up to some 640m but our group took it quietly and crossed the summit togther and after that it was largely downhill or flat for most of the rest of the day. We had a mixture of road qualities today due to the nature of the ride route that had been determined for us. Some motorways, some narrower roads and some back roads that had plenty of potholes. A day to keep alert also. We were now heading into the flatter lands of south eastern corner France and with it comes as we expected, more winds - both tail and cross winds today that had the result of keeping the pace reasonably quick as well. Some 28 kmph average for the day. After 85kms we stopped for lunch in a delightful village near the coast where the local cafe owner was expecting us. The sun and warmth had returned and the cafe put on a great lunch of pasta, sauce, cheese, bread coke and or coffee for just 7 Euro's per head with fast service. Great value once again. Some of the lads headed up the road to the local Boulangerie shop (for pastries, cakes and other yummy stuff!) but not me. See the pics above. After lunch we had a largely coastal route flat ride on these mixed roads for some 70 km's before we rode into Cap d'Adge to our hotel, the very nice Palmyra Golf Hotel that backs on to a nice looking golf course. A bit of drama about 7 kms out from the hotel when two guys in our group crashed into a rather big pothole on a backroad. They were ok though- just a few small cuts, bruises and hurt pride maybe more than anything. One of them was my roomie, Glen but he is a tough Canberra lad so he bounced back up again pretty quickly. Just across the road from the hotel is a supermarche' and a very accomodating laundry shop owner where we prompty dumped a few days washing to be ready at 9am the next morning. Tomorrow Saturday is our second rest day of the Tour. A sleep in, late breakfast, clean the bike, pick up the laundry and find a nice cafe is the early order of the day. The weather is still great here but quite a bit windier as is usual in this region. Till next time - caio !
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