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04-May-2013 -- This confluence visit is the second out of two visits that I made during a cycling weekend in France.The story continues from 44°N 5°E.

I love the 45^th parallel - it is half way between the equator and the poles. So it averages the yearly life cycles at the poles with the daily cycles at the equator. Once I was dreaming of hiking along the 45^th latitude north around the Earth - but such project conflicts with an office job and family life.

At least I was able to grab this point by cycling northwards along the Rhône starting in Avignon. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the Mistral, which is a strong, cold wind that blows from the North. It slowed me down a lot, but I kept on cycling without adopting resistance against the wind and reached the confluence in the evening hours.

The confluence is on a unique location right at a motorway service area between the cities Valence and Romans-sur-Isère. Access is easy and doesn't need any further description - even with a bicycle I reached it without any difficulty. However, the exact location is in a fenced area of a truck-rental and repair company (Util-Auto 26). However, it is not open 26 hours a day (as its name suggests). On a Saturday evening, the shop was closed and I was not able to get closer as the fence allowed. Any step further would require good knowledge in dog-psychology in order to access the confluence and return with two healthy legs. At the time of my visit this dog remains the only creature that had legal access to the confluence point. So I took the pictures in 21 m distance right at the white metal fence. Inside the compound, there are several different trucks scattered around.

If you are interested in getting all zeros, note that the opening times are Monday to Friday 8-12 AM and 2-7 PM, Saturdays 8-12 AM.

Since sunset indicated forthcoming absence of daylight, I cycled to the town Romans-sur-Isère in 10 km distance and stayed the night in a hotel there. The next day I rode to Geneva and then took a train back to Zurich.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to an asphalt road: 25 m
• Distance to a track: 25 m
• Distance of bicycle parking: 21 m
• Time to reach CP from parking: 0 minutes
• Time at CP: 8:00 PM
• Measured height: 176 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 21 m
• Position accuracy: 4 m
• Topography: flat
• Vegetation: grass, meadow flowers.
• Weather: fine, 16° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Auto 26 Dog Confluence