The day starts with blue sky and the noise of barking dogs getting louder. Assuming the worst – a hunt with me in the middle – I pack my things in only 15 minutes and step out of the forest onto a side road just as the first dog runs by, thankfully ignoring me completely.
I quickly make my way up to the main road and find a hunter some way onwards waiting for his dogs to scare up game. Bad luck for him that I already scared off all animals in that section with my snoring. 😉

The good thing about this hurried start into the day is that I’m early at the bakery. I ride for a while until the sun reaches the valley floor, then stop for breakfast.

The major highlight today is probably the Col de Cère, at 1294 m high enough to be host to a major skiing area (Lioran) for the region.

The rest of the day I follow the Alagnon river downwards, but with heavy headwinds, until I reach the wider Allier river valley. Here I turn westwards to cross towards the Rhone valley tomorrow.