📆 Day 7 | 30 May

📍Route: Sablon -> Cruas, France

🚴‍♀️ Distance cycled: 113 km

🏰 Places visited: City of Valence, Pétanque des 2 chènes Charmes-St. Georges les Bains, Pont Marc Seguin

We started our day  near Sablons and cycled all the way to Cruas, covering a total of 113 kilometers — one of our longest and most intense days so far.

Along the way, we passed through the city of Valence, where we visited a Lidl to restock food and explored a few parks. However, the general atmosphere in the city didn’t feel very welcoming or comfortable, so we didn’t stay long.

One interesting encounter happened near a pétanque court, where a local man approached us. He asked where we were from and ended up sharing a bit of his life story with us. He had visited many cities in Portugal and seemed genuinely happy to speak with us, which made the moment memorable and unexpected.

We found an excellent place for camping. It has direct access to a river where we swim and cool off, tables for eating, bathrooms, and clean water. It was a great place to relax after such a demanding ride.

There were quite a few unexpected situations today. Tomas fell and got slightly injured, and we had two flat tires, which slowed us down and tested our patience. The encounter with the man by the pétanque court was also a surprise — a very spontaneous and human moment in the middle of the ride.

One of the key lessons from today was learning how to change a tire — or at least starting to get a real sense of how to do it properly. It was definitely a day full of learning experiences, both mechanical and human.

Tomás Couto.