On to Cogolin

To Cogolin, France -- 49.6 miles, 12.7 mph, 1600 ft

It was so nice to wake up today in a room... with a table... chairs... and a balcony to boot. Another beautiful day.  Meg and I seem perpetually to be trying to figure out the next route and the night's accommodation.  Our last minute planning is particularly problematic for the likes of WarmShowers and Airbnb.

Today, was an exceptionally good day for long, continuous and dedicated bike paths. Toulon, in stark contrast to Marseille, was excellent for biking.  Along all the major roads and highways were a separated set of paved paths for bikers and running. How nice to be off the road and away from cars for a while.

At the halfway point, we turned off the main road and stopped in a small town center by the beach with a half dozen places to sit and eat.  It was a busy spot, with no fewer than four glaciers (ice cream parlors) and a bunch of restaurants with crowded outside seating areas.  After eating lunch, courtesy of Meg’s front pannier (bread, yogurt, and cheese), Dex, Kylie and I hit the beach to cool off. 

Meg thought better of it and took a nap on the brick wall around the town plaza. She still contends she was "watching" the bikes while we were off having fun.  

When we finally got rolling an hour and a half later, we suffered our second and third flats (one on each bike) setting us back another 45 minutes. Dex and Kylie occupied themselves playing a game with their 11 euro, emoticon Tic Tacs.

The one real hill of the day started at mile 35. It was on a windy two-lane road with little shoulder, which reminded me of Mt. Hamilton in San Jose. The weather was beautiful, and we got a handful of thumbs up from passing cars as we climbed. 

We're always a little anxious of the day's climbs, but once we get going, arms are glistening, shirts are wet, and we settle into a sustainable pace, it's usually not as bad as we expected. Plus the climbing is usually outside of the busy towns, the scenery is way better and -- best of all -- we are rewarded with miles of carefree down afterward.

To motivate us on the way up, "we've" started listening to music. At least Kylie was, using her Shuffle. I enjoyed trying to figure out what song was playing as she sang along, "...I ain't no size two, but I can shake it, shake it like I’m supposed to do...” (Megan Trainer - All About That Base.) Hmm, guess we haven't been too critical of their pop music playlists.

We made it to the De l’Agentiere campground by 6:00. It was a very nice spot with lots of shade trees, a restaurant, pool, slides, ping pong tables and play area. It would suit us just fine for our rest day and was a great opportunity for a little R and R from our almost month-long vacation.