Bikepacking - Frontigan to Sallèles-d'Aude

Day #

35

State of Legs

:-)

---

	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	78 miles	km	659 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	1643 miles	km	64070 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

Route So Far

---

Travelogue

Knowing I had more than seventy miles to cycle today, I got up before dawn, ate a couple of bananas and was on the road by about 6:15 in a bid to avoid the worst of the day's heat. 

After about 10 miles, I entered the town of Sète which has canals connected to the sea running through it and so a number of boats all moored in the town centre. It's a picturesque town and I had my first pain au chocolat of the day there. I had a total of two today in case anyone's counting. :-)

The route out of town continued on a cycle path and hugged the coast. There is a whole lot of beach around here so The Mule and I briefly paid one a visit just so we could say that we had.

No paddling was done and no sandcastles were built but we were there and that's what counts.

I saw more flamingoes. There are some in the next photo but you're unlikely to be able to make them out unfortunately! But trust me. There are flamingoes in the water in the distance.

Spot the Flamingo

I cycled through the larger town of Agde where there were more boats moored. I cycled along a canal for a while.

After Agde, the route swung inland on a strangely busy minor road. You can't see this in my photos of course, but for a while there were so many cars, all heading in the opposite direction to me and only just enough room for both a car and a bike!

Spot the angler

And after about 30 miles of cycling, the route reached the Canal du Midi, which if you read its wikipedia page, you will find is one of Europe's oldest canals and is a UNESCO world heritage site. It's certainly long because the remainder of the day's cycling followed the canal closely. And that's no bad thing. Canals and cycling go together very well and not just because it means the gradient is always close to zero! 

Canal du Midi has a lot of pleasure craft sailing on it which might account for the distinct lack of wildlife compared with other canals, rivers and wetland I've cycled along or through on this trip. It was very scenic in places though and had an impressive system of locks at one point which seemed to be quite a draw for tourists. I also liked the stone bridges that crossed the canal at intervals.

There were lots of tourists here, I assume for the impressive system of locks going up the hill in the background

I walked The Mule through here - the risk of The Mule taking a first and final swim was too great!

I finally arrived at Sallèles-d'Aude and made a detour to the nearest supermarket, about half a mile away.

Provisions acquired, I found the campsite. Reception was closed and so with a 35 minute wait on my hands and the simple fact that I was hungry, I sat on a bench in a shady corner and had lunch. Once reception was opened, I checked in, paid and was shown to my pitch, the last one available.

The campsite is one of France's municipal sites. I like it very much already. It's a "no frills" site with no pool, no restaurant or snack bar and no music. Perfect. It's small, quiet, has nice clean showers and it has a communal freezer! Not a fridge, a freezer. I have my water bottles in there right now getting nice and cold!

My pitch is at the end, on the right

Yes, I've washed today's cycling clothes!

Tomorrow I have about 50 miles to cycle. I'm in no particular hurry so don't aim to be up at any particular time. The destination is Perpignan which will mark the end of my journey along Eurovelo route EV8. It swings south and eventually crosses into Spain, hugging the coast. I will continue west through southern France for a while longer. In Perpignan I intend to have a single rest day before continuing. And with a bit of luck, I'll be able to buy a spare or replacement rear tyre!