Very difficult day. The ridge lines ran north-south and we were riding east-west, the roads went straight up and down the hills with no consideration for an overweight cycling tourist.

The day got hotter and hotter and I started to hear strange noises from our wheels/tyres. Concerned there was something wrong we stopped to check what was happening. On stopping we noticed that the bitumen was bubbling with the heat and our bikes were popping these bubbles, hence the strange noises. Inspecting our tires and we found the grooves in the tyres were filled with gravel and bitumen which I labouriosly dug out once we arrived in Cosne.