Day 34 - Tournon sur Rhone France - 57 kms The temperature rises !

There were many varied reasons why we left beautiful Pont in Royans late on this beautiful morning.

Mike needed time to work out a route towards Le Puy and the Camino, Ross although up early was still recovering from his Juniper shot the night before and Kev was still in shock from Mike having offered to massage his cramp in bed the night before - how did I know it was in his upper inside thigh !

The late start gave the two food bandits R & H time to deplete the village of their food supplies !

The early riding was scenic along the La Bourne river before we turned inland through farmland to Peyrins for lunch.

Eating a banquette and cake in the heat was almost enough for the boys to have a siesta (like everyone else does in France) but with inspired determination, and no more women to look at (sorry Monika) the boys bravely soldiered on !

With Ross flying as usual up the hills Mike and Kev took to playing silly buggers at the rear with rounds of bike jousting and a game of tacking yachts where both aims were to put Kev in the ditch - not all that dangerous when your are only doing 4.5 kms an hour !

The GPS came into action on a few occasions, once at a village with a good 20% climb to its centre.

At 57 kms we called an early end after after arriving at Tournon on the Rhone having achieved our objective of splitting the distance to Le Puy.

H secured our accommodation in a quieter part of town right opposite the train line with trains upwards of 1 km long pass by regularly .

The kiwis showed their regard for authority
By ignoring strict instructions for us not to take our bikes upstairs !

Dinner was across the river in the twin town of Tain. Ross and Mike sadly tortuted Kev by eating banana splits in front of him - H is determined not to put on any more weight after he realized that what he thought was a mechanical problem when his daily odo kept zeroing out was in fact his extended belly turning it off ( out of respect for my traveling friend notice I did not say big fat gut !)

For the travel weary Aussies today's hot weather was particularly sapping post our days cycle - it will be interesting to see how we recover !