So, actual cycling began at the hottest point of the day. Not clever, especially since the road was an 8 km ascent up to a 400m height. My first major hill with bags, and it nearly killed me. I took 2 major stops, many breaks, and walked a fair amount of the way.

At the top was a tunnel, which was good cause I got out of the sun! It was all downhill - I have a new top speed.

At the bottom I found a cycling road! That was gorgeous riding, riverside or through farmland.