I got up promptly and went straight to a nearby shop that I'd seen last night. I got what is becoming my standard breakfast of PAC, PAR and C. Smashed them straight down and got underway.

I had decided that today I would start making some progress down towards the Med, taking a route away from the mountains. Much as I enjoyed the Pyrénées, all those hills take time and I need to crack on if I'm ever going to get home! I would have liked to do more big cols, but with the weather as it is, I'm not getting any views (other than cloud!) and to be honest, it's a bit dangerous up high at the moment what with the terrible visibility.

So I followed a nice cycle path down to Lourdes and followed the roads towards Tarbes making good progress.

I stopped at a supermarket late morning for some supplies. I got some bread, some sort of sausage thing and some biscuits that are a bit like jammy dodgers. I nibbled on that lot throughout the afternoon.

I had a rough idea of where there were campsites and had a route that took me in their general direction.

Some of the roads were tiny, taking me through lots of farms. And that of course means dogs! I'd just turned a corner when two massive dogs piped up and came after me! So I hit it as hard as I could. One gave up but the other was more persistent. I needed to lose it before the ridiculously steep hill that was rapidly approaching! Fortunately the dog stopped and just stood there as I pushed on up the hill until I got around a corner where it could no longer see me and had a rest. That was hard work!

From then on I was careful not to take the tiny roads. I did get chased one more time, but I suspected there might be a dog there so accelerated hard past the farm. When the dog got wind of me and gave chase he was out of luck - I was already smashing it at top speed down the road!

And that is about as interesting as it got today. I don't mind as yesterday was a bit mental!

The campsite I'm at is very nice. It's in the middle of nowhere and run by a British couple. I'm the only person staying here! Of course June isn't considered high season here so most places are very quiet.

They wouldn't usually serve food here until July, but they're making an exception for me, so I shall be having burger and chips shortly.

Tomorrow I shall skirt Toulouse, then head towards Carcassonne. Then the day after I will be on the Med! It better be sunny. Apparently it will be. It is noticeably warmer down here.