Today was a nice ride on the RN7 to the larger town of Antsirabe. There was some climbing but overall less climb and shorter distance made for a quicker day than yesterday.

Hotel last night was very nice, particularly the meals. This morning we had bread, eggs and also banana/chocolate crepe, yum. There was light drizzle overnight but it all cleared off. So far temperatures ideal for cycling with highs in low 70s and overnight lows in the 50s. Definitely a welcome change from central Texas where August 11th is statistically the warmest day of the year.

It is never very hot here but this is the dry season so areas can be quite wet. One also wants to avoid cyclone season the first months of the year.

Shows one of the road markers we follow. Sometimes they are all chipped away and unreadable.

What better use for a picket fence than laundry

There were plenty of settlements along the way, though less distinct villages.

Ilaka Center

These folks were busy driving the zebu cows back and forth on the field. Not sure if it was non-motorized rototilling or other reason.

Our lunch stop was outside and villages. It seemed to be popular with minibuses stopping

Rice, vegetables and chicken.

Orange seller

Some sort of welding

This area also had several churches

Bert stopped to adjust his bike. Here he picked up an entourage of seven local cyclists

The pack went up the hill. This turned out to be the steepest hill for the day. From here we rode the last 15km on into Antsirabe. This is a large town. Given we have some time, plan is to take a rest day here tomorrow and look around.