15 – 07 – 2021,   La-Salvetat-sur-Agout – Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze   152 km



La-Salvetat – Brassac – Castres – Dourgne – Saint-Félix-de-Lauragais – Villefrance-de-Lauregais – Auterive – Saint-Sulpice

I meet the guy that checked me in last night putting ready breakfast. It is a buffet, but it's a bit meagre. No fresh baguette, well, what could I expect at this isolated location, but also no fresh juice. And I'm the only guest that gets up so early. I'm glad I still have some yogurt of my own. Outside it is disconsolate too. What a nice location it must be on a sunny morning: the lake with the beach and the woods all around. Shall I go back to bed and make a Tour de l'Haut-Languedoc in the afternoon (might things clear up outside)? No, I'll see how far I can get; I hope till Auterive, just south of Toulouse, at least. The first part is sad: it's raining most of the time, the lake is hardly visible during the 8 km that I more or less follow its north side, because of the woods, and if there is a open spot, the visibility is very restricted (my wet glasses also do not help). And, to add to the chagrin, there's climbing to be done, with my raincoat on.

Wet morning

Wet sheep

Visibilité   < 100 m

It would have been fun on a better day, I'm sure. After some 27 km I reach Brassac, where I hope to buy a map covering the 50 km or so I miss on the maps I have taken with me. I buy a 1:150.000 one, just to have something. And on the other side of the road an early piece of pastry. I don't recall much from the sequel till Castres. Only that at the end there is quite a long descent, that the road splits into separate lanes, and that close to Castres the grades are so high that truck drivers are warned to freiner sur le moteur. I may well have reached my highest overall speed there, 64.3 km/h. (In a few years my highest speeds will not exceed my age anymore.) Castres is also on the river Agout, at an altitude 500 m lower than La Salvetat!

L'Agout à Castres

Deux fois

In busy Castres, after some asking, I do find the map I had been looking for. (The other map I'll leave at the reception of the cyclists' hotel in Vielle-Aure two days later. Unused.) After the delay this caused, I decide to start looking for a restaurant only after I have found the right exit to the D85. There must be ample choice here, mustn't there? I spot a pizzeria, gamble I will soon find a better alternative, but decide wrongly. Sh..t! It takes ages (19 km, over a hilly and windy road, but at least no rain) till I reach Dourgne, a town that advertises itself as village gourmand. So that should be okay. And it is. I have covered 70 km already, I guess I'm almost halfway to Auterive, so I grant myself a two course plat du jour, with some stringy pork meat (tastes good) and a fromage blanc à la confiture as dessert. That break is the meteorological breaking point of the day/week/trip: I didn't notice from my table, but when I get outside it is sunny! I have trouble getting back to the D85 (when the road starts to rise and rise I realize my mistake – I'm on my way to Arfond). Sunny or not, the wind hasn't disappeared!

Tournesols		Saint-Félix-Lauragais (after quite a struggle)
The sky has cleared!		Rolling hills

Especially the open road till Saint-Félix-Lauragais, with a last km of at least 6% (it feels like 10%) is hard. Auterive seems far away. However, one way or another I keep going through sunflower country, and I end up, between 4:30 and 5 p.m. in Villefranche-de-Lauragais. I ride around twice searching for a shop that sells fruits (and coca cola – it has become warm!), and only after some asking find a fruit/vegetable shop on a village square with (hard) benches. (And they appear to sell canned coca cola as well.) Auterive has come within reach, some 25 km to go, but should I not better aim one 'station' further, i.e. Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze, still 46 km to go? That will certainly bring Saint-Lary within better reach. There seems only moderate climbing involved, between the rivers and streams I'll come across (amongst which a famous one, the Ariège), the area ('green' on the map) seems to give more shelter from the wind, and there seems to be no risk of rain. First I need to make sure to have a bed there. The first call (to the only hotel in Saint-Sulpice) is successful (for only € 45, breakfast included). The expected arrival time I mention is even half an hour later than yesterday.

Tournesols

Tournesols

Tournesols

Hôtel à Saint-Sulpice

Apart from woods there are also many (photogenic!) sunflower fields around. By controlled and concentrated riding I make it even fifteen minutes earlier than the announced expected arrival time. At the stroke of eight I set my eyes on Bar Hôtel Restaurant (no dinner though) de l'Esplanade "Chez Lagarde" (f.k.a. Hôtel du Commerce); from the outside it is quite nice, actually. Inside it appears a small, rather unsightly and messy family hotel. The woman that 'checks me in' (no forms to fill in, no passport required) is friendly though, and my bike I can put in the breakfast room, and she mentions the good pizzas down the road. Which I can eat on the terrace (like I see the (only?) other guest do before me). It's warm enough to sit outside till 9 - 9:30 p.m. That's great! And with this long(est) day distance, and the prospect of good weather for the next days, the reasonable remaining distance to Saint-Lary-Soulhan,
I'm quite a happy man.

Pizza!

Evening view from my room