Today was the hottest day yet, thirty-seven degrees. And we have to climb to above a thousand meters. So a very tough day. How do you deal with that? What is wise to do? How do we keep each other balanced? Not an easy puzzle. You can feel people’s dual reactions today: Even though the tree bike continuously puts a smile on people’s faces, they also wonder if we are doing the right thing in the middle of the day in this heat. And they are somewhat right. After a quiet start to the day, we arrived at the tree bike site in Rumilly before noon. The first fifteen kilometers were slowly downhill and along a wide mountain stream with beautiful green mountain slopes. Then a few kilometers along the Rhone. Once we crossed the bridge the ascent soon began. Richard shifted the route a little more so that the real ascent is delayed a little more. After about twenty-five kilometers and already a few hundred meters of ascent we have lunch on the shoulder of the road in the shade. It’s so hot today, overheating is imminent. After that about ten kilometers with more descending than ascending to then a good number of kilometers only ascending. It is soon too steep for the tree bike so we have to keep stopping and restarting which costs extra energy. Richard, who is driving the car today, suggests that it is time for a “trekking bike. It’s too long too steep and too hot, is his unrefutable argument. Ok, let’s do that. Sometimes you shouldn’t make things harder than they need to be. And frankly. Everyone is already pretty much through. The last part of the climb is very nice through the forest, though, which makes an immediate difference. When we reach the top, at about eleven hundred meters, it’s another seven kilometers downhill to Hotonnes. We stop at the local supermarket Vival where we drink a local beer in front of the entrance, which also turns out to be the informal local bar. The owner is interested and has a bunch of his own. How nice. The Marie is on the other side of the square but it is weekend so I guess that won’t work out. A little later, the former mayor arrives and he too gets a tree. The villages belonging to the municipality of Hotonnes have a combined population of just under a thousand. It feels like a cozy and pleasant community. It is a good seven o’clock when we park the tree bike at the edge of the square and ride back to our home. Enjoying the beautiful landscapes we have traversed today is unfortunately a bit outweighed by the effort we have to put in. And the heat will continue for the next few days as well. Tomorrow we will leave at 8:30 so we will be on our bikes before 9:30. That should help, you might say. We will see.