overnight - thunder and lightning on all sides. Our luck held though and there was no more than a light drizzle by the time we set out, though there was a threat of thunder in the air. The path was still pretty poor quality, hard work and increasingly muddy which made it difficult for my bike with hybrid tyres and no suspension. Emma's bike which was more of a cross-country model coped a lot better. The panniers didn't help as they turned minor skids into a major wobbles. We just about coped until the ecluse de Beteille where we 
came across a miserable gaggle of mountainbikers who were mud to the eyeballs. They told us that the next 7 kilometres were 'la galere' - a mud nightmare. After a quickconsultation of the map we decided to cut across country. The detour worked perfectly, though the last 500 metres was a bit of an act of faith as it meant pushing through a woodland path - which did in fact lead to back to the canal path. We were very pleased with ourselves but in fact we had rejoined the path too soon. The mud was not over and in fact got worse. Anothe problem was that my bike had mudguards which gradually filled with sticky red mud until I couldn't even push the bike forward - and we were still 8 kilometres from Carcassonne. The next 5 kilometres were horrible -pushing the bike through sticky, slithery mud, stopping every few hundred yards 
to clear the mudguards. I couldn't remove the mudguards as I didn't have the right tools. After what seemed like hours we came to a junction with a main road and gratefully relinquished the towpath. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable road - quite a lot of fast traffic and giant lorries but anything was better than the mudbath.
By the time we arrived at Carcassonne we were both on our knees and desperately in need of a shower and a snooze. The hotel was much better inside than out and had a stupendous view of the old town. After a rest and a shower we felt strong enough to have a look around the old centre - something I've never found time to do properly. Full of tourist
s but a wonderful place to stay stay but all the reasonably priced hotels were full - and in any event I don't think we would have been physically capable of pushing our loaded bikes to the top of the hill.
s but a wonderful place to stay stay but all the reasonably priced hotels were full - and in any event I don't think we would have been physically capable of pushing our loaded bikes to the top of the hill. However we felt strong enough in the evening to go back to the old town - by another steeper but shorter route rather than the main road. Quieter and prettier. Carcassonne is lovely in the evening when most of the daytrippers have gone. We had a a good meal - even managed to eat of doors again. It was tempting to stay on for a drink at one of the lovely outdoor bars but the day had taken its toll. We staggered back down the hill and slept like logs.
Total to date 740km
