Ten days, ten rides, one every day from 17 to 26 October, days 128 to 137 of my streak. The trip fell into three parts: a half-way stop in Tours on the way down, a week based in Cahors and two days in Orléans at the end. By the last ride Strava’s totals read 751.4 km, 8,029 m of climbing and a day and nearly 16 hours out on the road, stops included. The day posts tell each ride’s story; this one puts the seven rides from Cahors on one map, to see how much of the Lot I actually covered.
Where I rode
The darker line is the boundary of the Lot. Only the seven rides from Cahors are mapped; the Tours and Orléans days were elsewhere. Each ride’s first and last 800 m are trimmed for privacy. Boundaries: IGN Admin Express, via france-geojson.
It started with a quick pedal from Tours, over the Loire on a suspension footbridge and up out of the Cher valley at Villandry. Day two was the first in the Lot, following the meanders of the river west through Luzech and Albas to Puy-l’Évêque, and day three climbed onto the causse to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and came home along the cliff road. Day four was the big one: 138 km north to the Dordogne at Souillac and back over the Col de Grézelade.
Day five headed south to the domed church at Castelnau-Montratier and home to a Pont Valentré lit pink for Octobre Rose. From there the rides set out to fill in the gaps: the vineyards north-west of Cahors, ridden on into the dark, then the causse to the south-east, and on day eight, the last in the Lot, 131 km up the Vers valley to Rocamadour on its cliff. The trip finished in Orléans, racing the dark along the Loire to Cléry and taking the cycle lanes to the Château de Morchêne the next morning.
Laid on one map, the Cahors rides cover a good slice of the west and middle of the Lot but leave the east untouched. I rode through 11 of its 17 cantons and 89 of its communes; the six cantons I missed are all in the north-east, around Figeac, Saint-Céré and Martel. About 43% of the Lot lies within 5 km of a road I rode, and a quarter of it within 2 km. Causse et Bouriane, north of Cahors, saw the most of me at about 101 km, with Cahors-2 next on about 81 km. Around 22 km were outside the Lot altogether: a stretch along the Dordogne on day four and a dip into Tarn-et-Garonne on day five.
Garmin’s ClimbPro counted 64 climbs over the ten days, seven Cat 3s and 14 Cat 4s among them, and all but two were in the Lot. The biggest was the 5.6 km drag up from Rocamadour towards Couzou on day eight. The only jersey on show was the Maglia Rosa at the Pont Valentré on the first Lot day, and the roads were kind: on the six Lot rides with a traffic count, 628 vehicles passed me in all. Ten days from the Loire to the Lot and back, and a fair corner of the Lot seen from the saddle.
One photo from each day
Day by day
| Day | Date | Ride | Distance | Climbing | Garmin climbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 Oct | Châteaux on the Cher | 56.1 km | 319 m | 2 |
| 2 | 18 Oct | Meanders of the Lot | 84.3 km | 940 m | 8 (2 Cat 4) |
| 3 | 19 Oct | Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and the Cliff Road | 61.2 km | 473 m | 2 (1 Cat 3) |
| 4 | 20 Oct | Down to the Dordogne | 138.3 km | 1,733 m | 16 (1 Cat 3, 2 Cat 4) |
| 5 | 21 Oct | Castelnau and the Pink Bridge | 76.9 km | 943 m | 9 (1 Cat 3, 3 Cat 4) |
| 6 | 22 Oct | Vineyards into the Dark | 61.2 km | 925 m | 6 (1 Cat 3, 3 Cat 4) |
| 7 | 23 Oct | Filling the Gaps on the Causse | 47.0 km | 594 m | 7 (1 Cat 3) |
| 8 | 24 Oct | A Quick Spin to Rocamadour | 131.1 km | 1,717 m | 14 (2 Cat 3, 4 Cat 4) |
| 9 | 25 Oct | Racing the Dark to Cléry | 47.9 km | 183 m | 0 |
| 10 | 26 Oct | Cycle Lanes to Morchêne | 47.2 km | 202 m | 0 |
| Total | 10 rides | 751.4 km | 8,029 m | 64 |
The numbers
- Rides: 10 in 10 days, #1119 to #1128 on Strava, days 128 to 137 of the streak
- Distance: 751.4 km (600.1 km from Cahors, about 578 km of it in the Lot; 56.1 km at Tours and 95.2 km at Orléans)
- Moving time: 32:51:17 (1 d 15 h 41 m elapsed)
- Elevation: 8,029 m
- Climbs: 64 Garmin ClimbPro climbs: 7 Cat 3, 14 Cat 4, 43 uncategorised
- Biggest climb: Rocamadour – Couzou, Cat 3 – 5.63 km, 219 m, 19:29 at 213 W (day 8)
- Longest day: 138.3 km and 1,733 m (day 4)
- Calories: 18,213 kcal
- Coverage: 11 of the Lot’s 17 cantons and 89 of its communes; about 43% of the Lot within 5 km of my route
- Year to date: Distance 21,084 km, Elevation Gain 215,693 m
Every town, café, beach and landmark from my rides is collected on the Links page.