Moirax, France
118 Miles 5870 ft
Today was always going to be a longer day at over 100 miles but as usual the Garmin was out by about 10% so a longer than expected day finishing just after 8.
However the benefit of this is that we parked up next to the lovely Gite of friend Dennis who then cooked a super meal and entertained us royally. Do check it out if you fancy a break down here by following the link above.
The day started out cool and misty and although I had a short sleeved top on, kept the arm warmers on all day, really quite chilly. There were plenty of showers about and the road was often wet, but I only got a few spots of rain on me all day
The roads however were often plastered in mud as the farmers were out harvesting the maize for cattle food making riding messy and just requring more care.
It was on this first segment that I had my first puncture since northern Sweden- A thorn and wisely checking the tyre I had a second one too.
A long run at around 40 miles to the pretty village of St Jean de Cole and I managed to get a couple of short stints on voie vertes (usually former railways converted to cycle paths) including one that I recall dragging the children along on holiday a few years ago!
Progress due to a mix of puncture, complex route and hills was slower than I would have liked so coffee stop was nearer 1pm than 11am!
Navigation over the next two legs was easier apart from the fact that I had to negotiate Perigeux and then Bergerac
The Tour de France went this way too.
Perigeux via the ring road (roundabouts and lorries are never nice) and then a massive hill which went straight up at 14% followed by several more it seemed.
I just went straight through Bergerac just after the 6 pm rush hour and only shouted at one driver so that went well. Final tea stop had been agreed next to the chateau at the top of the hill at Montbazillac so another good climb to finish.
The delays during the day meant that I had 21 miles to do in less than one and a half hours before sunset but managed to get the afterburners on and thanks to some more favourable terrain finished just before sundown. The image below shows me in the vineyards behind Bergerac on that final stint 
nbjtours 