Day 5: Carcassonne - Toulouse
Yesterday evening we first watched England win a football match for the first time is this world cup and then we went into the old city of Carcassonne for dinner and to celebrate!
There was much discussion before we left the hotel today on which was the best route to take and whether or not we should split into two groups to make things easier. In the end we all stayed together and quite quickly Mark and Sean had guided and got us out of the city and on our way to Bram, At Bram we were able to pick up a minor road and leave most of the traffic behind, we then upped our speed and very quickly reached the first refreshment stop at Casteinaudary. By now the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was getting hotter and once again we found our route ahead barred by road works (a reoccurring theme!). Having negotiated our way through Casteinaudary we took the quiet roads to Mas-Stes-Puelles, Molleville and then to our lunch stop by the Canal de Midi at Renneville. This was perfect cycling country, rolling hills, the snow capped Pyrenees in the distance and the river below us – quite spectacular.
It would seem yesterday’s announcement that Malcolm had given up cycling for good was a little premature because after a superb lunch in the shade alongside the canal he got the fold-up bike out again and decided to ride 10-miles or so along the canal towpath. I’m very pleased to report that he had a wonderful ride along this beautiful canal and was able to fold his bike up and jump back in the van feeling well pleased. Meanwhile the rest of us carried on along the towpath into Toulouse, once in the city we decided to split into two groups, one going through the city to the hotel and the other taking the towpath around the city. Those of us cycling through the city were lucky enough to find that the place was at a standstill due to a mass demonstration by several thousand noisy protesters, which was both fun to be part of and also meant that all traffic was stationary and we a had a very easy ride through. On approaching our hotel we saw the canal group join the road ahead of us, so after cycling the last 5-miles in two groups we ended up finishing together having ridden 78-miles very beautiful miles. Tonight it’s over the road for a Chinese meal and back to the hotel for more football.
View photos from our fifth day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeride2010
If you would like to leave a comment about our journey then visit our comment page