Château-Gontier to Mayenne 45 miles. Running total 841  miles 

Here is todays route. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42318345

We make an early start this morning because today is the longest cycling day of the trip. This was determined by the availability of places to stay along the route. Opposite the hotel is a Carfour supermarket, which we had identified for purchasing todays lunch. It is supposed to open at 8am but because it is the Tuesday after a bank holiday the staff get an extra hours lay in and open at 9am. This is too late for us, so we find a Boulangerie for some bread, then we check out Lidl, and that’s closed too, so we set off.

By our normal start time of 9.30 a.m. we have already completed almost 10 miles and have only seen one cyclist. You can feel the route is inclining slightly uphill in the valley, but nothing too hard. The views are just as good as those we had yesterday, and the going is good.

We dodged through a group of Nordic walkers several times throughout the morning. They passed us each time we stopped for toilets and coffee. In true French style, they wished us ‘Bon Journee’, everytime we saw them. Even after 3 weeks, my compatriot has not gotten the hang of parking her bike and finds herself between the bike and bike rack every time we stop. This then requires a lot of shuffling to get on the right side of the bike which always seems a surprise, and means stops are never quick.

We arrive in Lavel the halfway point for today, just in time to buy some provisions before the shops close for lunch. The sun has completely disappeared behind clouds, it is a bit chilly, and we have a 25mph headwind.

Lunch is taken picnic style as usual. We are astounded that there are picnic benches all along the route and no vandalism or rubbish.

We come across a sign showing the start and finish of this section of our route, so we take the opportunity to have a photo taken. It is a bit concerning to see that we still have 186k to go before we reach the ferry.

The last 20 miles of today followed the river and was a good surface but undulating. All day we have had views of the river on one side and meadows full of wild flowers with animals grazing on the other.

We reached Mayenne, our destination today at around 3.30 p.m. This is another walled town set up on a hill. Fortunately, we are in a hotel on the riverside, very close to the cycle way. After we check in, we take a walk to explore the town. It’s not as impressive as some of the others we have explored, but it is still worth a visit.

We sat in the main square with beers in the sunshine, plus some peanuts, my compatriot ordered in Babel French. Didn’t she do well!

Tonight we are eating in our hotel restaurant which has excellent reviews. It is also useful because I have a Zoom meeting tonight, and the time difference makes it convenient. Tomorrow is the 2nd longest day, so we need to refuel ourselves again and get to bed.