The group left Besançon with one day delay due to heavy rains. The route planning team decided to take a more hilly but also more picturesque detour towards Lyon along the River Ain, passing through its steep rocky valleys with its enchanted mossy forests, passing many waterfalls and lakes on the way.
Close to Thoirette we took a rest day on a grass field down by the river. Not many people pass by there, so we could have a circle (meeting), a few swims, time to relax, some bike fixing, a visit to the “cow piss” waterfall close by and the sighting of a really long Starlink satellite train completely undisturbed. A few people who had stayed behind in Besançon due to an injury or for other reasons caught up with us, increasing the group size to 23 participants.
From Thoirette we had a short 45 km ride with most of us arriving in the afternoon in Priay next to a lake with very warm but not very clear water. The food team prepared some amazing wraps with quinoa, vegetable and salad filling and we had dinner before dark for the first time in a while.
From Priay we had a long and hot 65 km cycling day along the river Rhône into Lyon. Following the B arrows in a big city is always difficult, but the scouting team managed to find a quite straightforward route on a bike path that was following a tram line almost all the way to our destination in the city centre.