We decided to get our first hotel room in Montbeliard to have a bit of city time. Unfortunately we arrived on a Sunday, and almost everything was closed. We’re staying at the Hotel de la Balance. It was highly rated on TripAdvisor, and the price was right as well as it being a bike friendly… Continue reading

Riding mostly along Le Doubs again today, this stretch of the EuroVelo 6 is beautiful. The weirs and corresponding locks are spaced regularly here, so we must be going up, but it doesn’t feel like it. We aren’t finding many cafes right on the EuroVelo this trip. On instinct we diverted into the small town… Continue reading

We left our bikes locked around a tree in the campsite and took the tram in to spend our rest day (ha) wandering Besancon and the citadel. The citadel is truly a marvel of engineering, and a nearly impenetrable fortress. Continue reading

We woke up this morning to extremely high humidity, with fog and heavy dew. The tent was soaking wet, and even inside was damp. We put some effort into drying the tent, but it wasn’t working, so we packed it up wet knowing we could dry everything this afternoon. The humidity in the morning made… Continue reading

We turned more west where the Canal de Rhone au Rhin joins the Saone River. It was a nice ride along the canal and we  joined Le Doubs in Dole. Less headwinds today, especially along the canal, so we were able to make a bit better time. There doesn’t seem to be any urban sprawl… Continue reading

This morning started with fresh, still warm croissants hand delivered to our site by the campground host. You can pre-order baked goods for the next day at most campgrounds, but these were the freshest so far. We got an early start today to avoid the worst of the afternoon headwinds, and we only planned a… Continue reading

We followed the Canal du Centre down into a new river system today, the Saone. It looks like we’ll be following this for a while, including its tributary, the Doubs. We rode into strong headwinds this afternoon, our first of the trip. Very slow and exhausting, but you have to take the good with the… Continue reading

We mostly followed the Canal du Centre today as it gently locked up, then locked down. It’s nice to get the boost of speed at each lock on the way down, but the path is always flat between the locks even though we’re constantly losing altitude. Everything was shut tight today (Sunday) as France prepares… Continue reading

We’re seeing more convection clouds with the heat. So far they’ve been harmless, dissipating as it cools in the evening, but if this heat continues, eventually in the next few days they’re going to hit critical mass and form some thunder heads. We’ll want to be off the road before that time of day. Camping… Continue reading

The town of Carrin had set up a campsite on the EuroVelo just for cyclists. We had a nice evening visiting with fellow cyclists, and a nice quiet sleep before heading on this morning. Much more challenging terrain today with a lot of ups and downs for the first half of the day. Fortunately after… Continue reading