Down to the Dordogne

Day three in the Lot, and the big one. I rolled out of Cahors at half past ten on a grey, still Tuesday, 9.5°C with the air close to saturated and barely a breath of wind. After the climb to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie the day before (Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and the Cliff Road), the plan this time was distance: north through the Bouriane to the Dordogne, along the river to Souillac and back over the hills, the longest ride of the trip by a distance.

I left town under an iron bridge and followed the Lot downstream to Mercuès, where the château sits on its hill above the river, then turned north away from the valley. The first climbs came early and kept coming, short ramps up past Boissières and Saint-Denis-Catus, through an old underpass and past a lone brick chimney, then Garmin’s first Cat 4 of the day, 2.1 km at 4.6%, on the way towards Peyrilles.

Gourdon was the first proper stop, just under half an hour in a café at 45 km. Coffee in hand, I could see the rest of the day laid out: north again, then a long drop through the woods to the Dordogne.

The descent to the river was one of the treats of the day, losing more than 150 m to the valley floor at Saint-Julien-de-Lampon, where a château clings to the wooded cliff above the village church. I stopped on the bridge at Rouffillac to look down on the Dordogne, running low and clear around long pale sandbanks.

From there the road ran east along the river, flat and fast through Cazoulès and into Souillac, 75 km in and the turning point. I propped the bike against a café railing and took my second half-hour break, coffee and a slice of cake, before wandering out under a street strung with pink umbrellas.

Souillac sits at the bottom of the valley, so the only way home was up. Leaving town the trees had turned a brilliant red, and a couple of kilometres later the road started to climb.

The last 50 km were a long, rolling haul south, with a short pause at 107 km before Garmin’s second Cat 4, 2.1 km at 5%, and plenty of smaller rises after it. The high point of the whole ride, just under 440 m, came a few kilometres later, which left a long, rolling descent of more than 300 m back down to the Lot. The road was quiet for a main route: 283 vehicles passed me all day, and the drop back into the Lot valley gave me a great view over Cahors before the final run into town. Six and three-quarter hours after setting off I was back where I started, 138 km and over 1,700 m of climbing later – two rivers, two cafés and the longest day of the trip.