I slept great last night, Natalie slept medium. We awoke, ate, finished all but the last of our oat milk, transferring the remaining amount to our leftover San Pellegrino bottle. It had a better lid. It was going with us, and we were happy to have it about an hour and a half into our ride. 😀 

Today was a near perfect ride in so many ways. We changed our route a little, adding miles to avoid traffic.  We only had a few blocks of city streets before we were on a dedicated cycle path heading to Old Lyon – just where we were yesterday. We rode along the river with beautiful buildings on both sides. There were a lot of bike commuters moving with us. It was relaxing and mostly level. The trails were wide. We enjoyed it enough to add a little more distance to take in some more of the beauty around us before turning around, getting across the last river, and heading north toward Mâcon.  

Today and tomorrow we are on La Voie Bleue. We’ve ridden on a lot of bike paths. I think this section between Lyon and Mâcon is my favorite. Apparently it goes all the way to Luxembourg. This trail is high on my “ride it again” list.

We stopped at a simple and quiet riverside beach cafe for lunch. Because school has just started here, everything seems empty, which is perfect for us. I think there were two other people eating when we were there. I think this is the perfect time to go for a bike ride in Europe. We had crêpes, fries and three cans of Perrier for lunch.

The weather was a tiny bit cooler, we were both feeling strong, and we also had a bit more shade on the trail today. I think the rest day yesterday did a lot of good, and our bodies are adapting to their situation. When we arrived in Mâcon we were neither famished nor exhausted. We shopped like normal humans and checked ourselves into our Airbnb without the need to guzzle as much water as we could.

Throughout this ride, I’ve noticed how polite the drivers are here. They frequently stop for us if they see we are going to cross their path. Some smile and wave. It also helps that most of the time we are far away from cars. Only occasionally we ride on the side of the road, and quite often when that happens, there is a cement barrier or other markers separating us from the cars. It feels so much safer than what we experience at home. 

Tonight after eating dinner we strolled around downtown Mâcon along the River Sâone. It is a nice small French city with a fun old-town area. Things were pretty quiet because it was a Monday evening, and many businesses here actually close on Mondays. 

Tomorrow we have a unique problem. We only have 40 miles to ride, but our Airbnb host is expecting us no earlier than 4 PM. We’re gonna have to linger here and relax, and then ride slowly. That might be hard.