Checkout ride: the full heat of the Provence summer is daunting and it’s been a while since I last gave it a go. So an afternoon on my CBR600RR doing a tour of the Sainte-Baume Massif not far from Marseille. Great fun to ride my RR in fine weather and on clear dry roads but too hot to ride fast - temperatures in the mid-thirties.

Yes the gear works, it forms a second skin so the ventilation is fine when on the move and seeking shade is enough when stopped; as with my picnic lunch outside an artisan boulangerie in Méounes-les-Montrieux, finishing with an artisan ice cream. I have fond memories of the tiny but tasty ice creams the boulangeries used to sell when my Father was taking us around France in the Sixties, and this was a pretty good modern equivalent.
Home over the high road and stopping for a few words with a shepherd looking after his troupeux (sheep) with three wonderful dogs. Great to see this tradition continuing.
Back of course down the Col de l’Espigoulier (723 m.).