French Divide - The Auvergne.

We'd been told that after the Morvan, there was some easier terrain before the route went upwards again into the Massif Centrale.

The heat didn't abate though.

One good thing about the sun, was that our suntans were coming along nicely.

The route was getting hillier, and as it got hillier, we got slower. The heat was a real hindrance, and I could see that heatstroke was a possibility. Tom didn't complain, but I wasn't having "fun", and I'm sure he wasn't either.

We stopped under the shade of a tree for a drink of water.

I explained to Tom that whilst we certainly could complete the French Divide route, that our speed would mean that it would take a lot longer than we had envisaged. This would mean we'd not have time to ride back up the Atlantic coast.

It did not take us long to decide that we'd leave the French Divide route, and take the easier roads instead towards the Atlantic coast.

Below, Tom celebrating our "Plan B" moment.

We had covered around 1000 kilometres of the French Divide route.

Tom smiling as we head into Puy de Dome on the road.