Day 13 Molieres to Soreze

Posted by: Rob on 14/06/2013
Warm and sunny, roasting later
Banner showing view of rolling hills

Stats

81.78 mi
14/06/2013 08:38 CEST
Elevation Gain
Elevation Gain:
Up
4203.74 ft
Down
3712.14 ft
Elevation Range
Elevation Range:
Max.
1070.70 ft
Min.
267.16 ft
797.94 mi
201.49 mi
ShowMap
797.94 mi
201.49 mi

Day 13

As promised, the weather was better today. I could see that as soon as I opened my tent!

I packed up, paid the campsite people and got underway.

The first past of the journey was to navigate my way out of the maze of country lanes and farm tracks. I managed that without any major issues and hit the road south towards Mauntaban.

I stopped off at the first shop I saw and bought a croissant and a PAC. That set me up nicely for the next few miles.

I had to do a bit of straight through town action, otherwise I'd just get sent to the motorway, which would obviously not be good!

I had a little chat with a lady off to do her shopping at a set of traffic lights. Fortunately, the phasing of the lights were such that we had about 2 years to chat about what I was doing before the lights went green.

After that I found the road I was looking for which would take me most of the way to where I was heading (near Castres).

This was good as it meant I couldn't get lost, but as the sign was indicating 100 kilometres it meant an awful lot of counting down!

The road was nice and quiet and pretty flat too. For a while there was a cycle path right alongside, but it didn't last long.

I stopped off for some lunch in Bessieres and watched some men playing Boules whilst I ate it. It wasn't quite right though - they were several decades too young and didn't have a sneaky bottle of red on the go either.

After that I made pretty good progress and soon enough the hills started.

It was a bit up and down at first and then it was up, up, up! It was seriously hard work - especially as it was very hot by this point and I was getting low on water.

I eventually got to Soreze (where I'm staying) and dived into the first shop I saw to get some water. It was possibly the weirdest shop I have ever been in! It was a sort of mini supermarket, but didn't seem to actually sell anything useful!  No water or even any other drinks apart from cordial and a few dusty bottles of wine.

So I left and found a proper shop and bought 2 litres of water and some fig roles.

Refreshed, I went and found the campsite and checked in.

I am now debating whether to eat here or walk into town to get some dinner. Decisions, decisions....

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Currently 9 comments

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Aidan on 18/06/2013 17:03:38
Brill castles!
Kirst on 14/06/2013 22:11:07
It really is a good job my hip's too knackered to go cycle touring and I hate camping, because you'd be about 400 miles ahead of me by now!
pcolbeck on 14/06/2013 21:40:28
You need to check out the locks on the Canal du Midi at Bezier when you get further south. The cycle path along the canal can be a little rough in places though south of Bezier. Pezenas is really worth a visit and an evening on the Place de Comedie in Montpelier is always fun.
Karen on 14/06/2013 20:26:33
Coffee eclair yumm! You are making amazing progress - 80 miles in one day!
Rob on 14/06/2013 19:51:08
And I've just had a burger with frites and some very nice salad. Looking at the map, tomorrow should indeed see me hit the Med! Carcassonne will be the next town I go through!
Mum on 14/06/2013 19:48:47
You are now close to Carcassonne where we are staying in September. Are you still near the canal? Can't see it on the map. At last we have had a sunny and warm afternoon - but it may not last....
Kirst on 14/06/2013 19:42:12
For those who are curious, Rob assures me his lunchtime baguette was jambon et fromage et salade, and then he had a coffee eclair.
Simon on 14/06/2013 19:32:52
Blimey mate, when you started from Bordeaux I did a quick calculation and thought what with the change in terrain it would take you 4 days to get to Toulouse. At this rate it will take you 4 days to get to the mediterranean!! If I saw a sign saying '100km' to my destination and I was on my bike I think I'd cry....
Rob on 14/06/2013 19:28:04
Yes I know I've duplicated a photo - I'll sort that out later...