My start today was fairly early, about 8am. Funnily enough another hot sunny day in store. Today I was starting on the Canal du Midi. It was right across the road from the Ibis hotel that I had stayed in. My bike had been stored in a function room so it was easy to get going. I did load it up in the hotel reception which sparked lots of interest.
Once again I rolled myself in factor 50 to prepare for the sun.
Today was going to be a relaxed affair as I only had 70 km to go.
The canal circumnavigates the city before continuing South East. The canal was busy with joggers and cycling commuters.
At one point the path dropped and instead of a plain slope downward there was a fun spiral path that dropped the path onto the canal again. It was such fun I did it twice.
The light in the morning makes for great photos.
At each lock is a lock house and the plaque on the wall tells you where you are and the distance to the next lock either side. Some of the houses are occupied, others are abandoned.
I hadn't gone very far when the opportunity of a coffee was presented at one of the lock houses.
The canal is afforded shade by the many trees that line it either side.
What I noticed today is that each tree has a little tin tag nailed to it. Each has a number and is in numerical order.
Now there must be thousands of trees along this canal and each has a tag. The sad thing is I have learned that there I'd 42000 of them and they have been struck by an icurable fungus and all have to be cut down.
I stopped for lunch sitting canal side with a couple of Spanish guys. I sat with my bare feet in the cool water and we chatted about the route. They are brothers and go on lots of rides together.
They continued on before me and I stayed a while, enjoying the cool water.
Shortly after continuing I came across two men walking with huge rucksacks but the cutest thing was their dog which had its own little load.
Then further along to the left of the canal path I saw a car nose down in the ground . I stopped to take a photo and then as I was cycling away I saw something shining in the long grass and looked harder. To my amazement I saw a whole string of old bicycles in an arc. The front one had a makeshift rider on it. I stood there laughing out loud like a crazy woman.
Further on I stopped at a public water tap and there were three geese there who were keen on being fed. They gave chase to some people but I found if you held your nerve they were ok. This one came right up to the camera as I squated down to her level. She touched me with her beak and that was that.
Further on, due to the strong wind the trail was blocked by a fallen tree. Lucky for me the Spanish brothers came along behind me and helped me lift my bike over.
Later I came to the highest point on the canal. Up to now all the locks had been going up, now they were going down toward the Mediterranean.
The trail was now on the right side of the canal and no longer Tarmac but a narrow dirt track. I also saw a huge field of Garlic.
Above is the track, now a narrow dirt track. My favourite!
William was living it up. All the benefits none of the effort.
I had ridden 70 km at a leisurely pace with a head wind all the way.
There was a little hotel right on the canal and I was sweating like a race horse again so couldn't resist checking in.
After a cool shower I wandered the lovely town. It was a little spoilt by a creep following me around on a bicycle. He was wearing really short shorts with his bits hanging out and made sure I was aware of that as he passed me the first time. Then everywhere I went he was behind me. This went on for at least 30 minutes then I took a steep hill from the canal side up into the town on a side street as he didn't look capable of riding up a hill. To my dismay when I turned to look, he was on his way up. I stepped into an alleyway then immediately realised that was a stupid move. I came back out into the street and he had given up on the hill and was rolling back down.
I carried on into town and had a lovely meal before wandering back to the hotel.
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