Retournac to Balbigny
After another cool, and therefore not very restful, night, I continued on. Following the Route des Gorges de la Loire kept me close to the river, with a steady rhythm of ups and downs. The views were lovely, the sun was out, and it wasn’t yet hot. I passed a couple of ruined castles along the way.
After Chambles, with its tower watching over the Loire, the road dropped into bigger towns — more traffic, dull architecture, industrial sprawl, and eventually fields of various crops stretching out. The temperature climbed, the forest shade disappeared, and I started to feel it.
I’d planned to stop in Feurs, but the campsite on my map turned out not to exist, so I had to push on to the nearest one, 14 kilometers further. Overachievement, yes, but by circumstance rather than design.
Tonight I’ll relax and watch the World Cup — France against Senegal. Allez Les Bleus!
Today in numbers:
104 km — distance cycled
$9 200 — resale price for the cheapest ticket to the 2026 World Cup final, as of mid-May; who knows what it’s gone for since