I woke to a brilliant blue, cloudless sky – another great day for cycling. Peter had worked up a route of almost exclusively small roads and varied landscape - not as dramatic as the Gorge loop, but more twists and turns through woods. It was a figure-eight loop with options for skipping the second loop if I chose to shorten the ride. I managed to leave at just past ten, setting off on a quiet road along the north side of the Aveyron River. The sun was blindingly bright, piercing through the trees that lined the riverbanks. The woods opened to landscape of wooded hillsides and farmland, similar to what I’d seen yesterday afternoon.
The route wound me down from the far hill, through the woods, and up a narrowed wooded valley before circling around the open pastureland as it crested the next hill.
As expected, Laguépie was closed for lunch by the time I arrived so I lingered over a coffee at the Tabac. Still feeling a bit tired and achy, I decided to skip the second loop and head back to town. Retracing the last twelve miles of my route, I arrived back in Saint-Antonin in plenty of time to rest before dinner. In the early evening, I walked down along the river and saw the moon rising over the Roc d’Anglars as the setting sun reflected in the river's waters. It seemed a perfect ending to another wonderful day of cycling, and two consecutive days of sunshine.
Château Saint-Martin-Laguépie overlooking the Aveyron River
