Day 260 – EU – France [Lyon Ecully to Les Sauvages]

20/12/20

41.2km

  From Ecully (France) to Les Sauvages (France)

Europe

Rainy and hilly, a tough day on the road!

I knew what I was in for as I left Lyon this morning and it did not disappoint. It rained very hard for about 35km, then eventually eased to a drizzle. I am yet to find how to dress adequately for rain and cold. The thing is that ultimately, in waterproof garments, I end up sweating inside. I therefore have wet clothes sticking to my skin and it gets cold whenever I take a break or resume running. It’s only comfortable as I am running.

Anyhow today was also very hilly with 800m+ positive ascent throughout the run. I’m staying tonight at “Les Sauvages” (the savages?) a little hamlet perched at 725m altitude, overlooking the Beaujolais region. I had very little visibility as I reached the summit, the valley being covered by a thick veil of fog.

I am looking forward to the days where I’ll be staying in apartments, as that means I’ll be able to cook. I have not had one hot meal yet in 4 days of running. Only getting by with supermarket ready meals eaten cold is okay but not ideal! I thought about how about one year ago, I was running through Portugal, and would often stop in a cafe for a hot chocolate and pastry halfway through my run. I’ll have to find ways to improve my quality of life on the road throughout the winter during partial lockdowns (ie, with cafes and restaurants closed).

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: