Day 19 Tuesday 19 June
Valence d’Agen, Tarn et Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees, France. 50km Total 1020
Packed the tent away although we didn’t know whether we’d be back tonight. Visit the big cycle shop we saw yesterday but they don’t have what we need. At the other cycle shop they don’t have the part, and tell us that we should go to Agen as it is much bigger- a city.
So we move on. Guy with his fixed gear is far too fast for me- I am blowing and sweating up the hills. Eventually arrived at Agen, the largest town we have been in so far and found cycle shops- just as they were closing . So we go for lunch to wait for them. A lad passes and speaks to us because he saw the GB stickers on the bikes. He has just done his finals at Huddersfield Polytechnic, and is travelling about as much as possible to combat the six months he spent revising in one room. He is also called Guy and had just sold a Burgundy Honda 550, just the same as Guy’s.
We talked a long time outside the café before returning to the cycle shop to buy a new derailleur- better than the one we already had. A Huret duopar. Put it on outside the shop on the pavement and then we were ready to go again. Feels good to finally be making proper progress.
Getting out of the city was difficult. Travelled miles along a heavily lorried N road before we could turn off onto a deliciously green and quiet narrow road, winding across the large flat valley of the Garonne. We crossed a very narrow planked suspension bridge over the river. Misty field full of all sorts of vegetables and fruits. Some heavy rain falls on the way in to Valence, but its clear by night, the campsite is a viewpoint looking out onto the flat valley, with open air washing facilities.
not at home 