Fall Rains

Day 23. October 1, 2026. Digoins to Roanne, France.

Well, we are now in October, and it officially feels like fall is here. The morning was cooler, grey and raining. We thought to lay over in Digoins, but ended up deciding against it, seeing a two day weather pattern ahead that would give us better weather for riding into the bigger city of Lyon where we knew we wanted to take a few days off anyway. And so, we donned our rain gear and off we went, riding in the rain!

Only cows witnessed our passing in the rain.

It was a great decision. I am normally a fair-weather rider, preferring sunny warm days, but sometimes, when I'm geared up for it, a ride in a gentle drizzle is just fine. As no one else wanted to be our in the weather, we had the world to ourselves. The only other person we met along the bike route was a gentleman bike packing and going the opposite way from us. It was only when we gave our friendly 'bonjours' as he passed us did we realize he was doing this ride one-armed! That was such a humbling experience. I was duly impressed with what this man was doing.

The ride was within the Loire Valley all day, past a few small towns and a lot of farms along a great bike path, part of the Voie Vert (greenway system.) The acorns crunched under our wheels, pop! pop! pop! every time we passed under oak trees.

Riding through the acorns.

Riding along the Loire Canal

The last few miles were once again along the Loire River Canal before arriving in Roanne, a larger city, more industrialized and newer. We could sense we were entering a different area of France than what we had passed through the last two weeks. The population was changing to a younger and more multinational/multicultural vibe, while the landscape was becoming more craggy and hilly around us.