Wind can either be a cyclists nightmare or his best freinds and today I got to enjoy the benfits of being good freinds with Le Mistral.
Le Mistral is a cold wind that blows north to south along the Rhone and resulted in a 50kmph tail wind pushing me along.
I noticed that instead of cycling between 20 to 30kmph I was now pushing 40kmph with no extra effort.
Today was set to be a record day as I flew down the N7 and made Valence by lunch. Unfortuantley I also managed to suffer my first puncture on the road that ate up about 2 hours trying to sort out.
I think that the extra speed meant I was pounding holes in the road with much greater force.
Despite this setback I managed a respectable 128km and am looking forward to progress tommorow.
My guidebook describes an invisible line between Lyon and Valence where the cold secnery of the north is replaced by the warmer and softer land of provence and I would have to agree that the landscape has changed and the sun is much stronger and the light is much more intense. While there seems to be a cold spell in France at the moment, you can see the snow in the Alps in the distance here
I'm managing to keep ahead of the worst of the low temperatures. I made it to Montelimar tonight and managed to stay in the cheapest place so far on the trip but also one of the nicest.
Hopefully this a tradition that will continue in the south. Montelimar is apparently the home of Nougat and every second shop is selling the stuff and the towns main attraction is a big musuem devoted to Nougat and Bonbons. Will have to get over my aversion to the stuff.
Le Mistral is a cold wind that blows north to south along the Rhone and resulted in a 50kmph tail wind pushing me along.
I noticed that instead of cycling between 20 to 30kmph I was now pushing 40kmph with no extra effort. 
Today was set to be a record day as I flew down the N7 and made Valence by lunch. Unfortuantley I also managed to suffer my first puncture on the road that ate up about 2 hours trying to sort out. 
I think that the extra speed meant I was pounding holes in the road with much greater force. 
Despite this setback I managed a respectable 128km and am looking forward to progress tommorow. 
My guidebook describes an invisible line between Lyon and Valence where the cold secnery of the north is replaced by the warmer and softer land of provence and I would have to agree that the landscape has changed and the sun is much stronger and the light is much more intense. While there seems to be a cold spell in France at the moment, you can see the snow in the Alps in the distance here
I'm managing to keep ahead of the worst of the low temperatures. I made it to Montelimar tonight and managed to stay in the cheapest place so far on the trip but also one of the nicest.
Hopefully this a tradition that will continue in the south. Montelimar is apparently the home of Nougat and every second shop is selling the stuff and the towns main attraction is a big musuem devoted to Nougat and Bonbons. Will have to get over my aversion to the stuff.
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