Author: johnstourdeforce

Cycling summary

None, thank goodness! The first proper day off in two weeks, with half of the first rest day having been spent on a coach. Not complaining though – “the Tour is the Tour”!

Breakfast: 07:00. Transfer: none. Start time: started pottering after breakfast. Distance: 200m to the launderette. Terrain: steep climb to the Notre Dame de France statue (we were debating what gearing we would need if doing this on a bike!). Climbs: up to the top of the statue itself. Finish: back to the hotel room to rest up by 4pm. Time resting up: 3 hours before dinner, otherwise the change today was as good as a rest.

Local lowdown

So much to do around here. The choice includes visiting lace manufacturers, canoeing and rafting, playing in the international pétanque competition (but I left my boules at home). Or, of course, none of the above! A small bit of sightseeing after lunch only.

Tale from the Tour

Before a quick summary of the day, and as I am lying comfortably on my bed, I thought I would do a bonus “Director’s cut” post with a few stories and anecdotes from the last week which did not make it to the original blog either because I forgot or because time ran out. There’s a time when enough is enough and I need my sleep to cope with the rigours of the next day! So in no particular order:

I was behind three riders who were discussing why cows have bells. Incredibly none of them knew that it was because their horns don’t work! You can imagine that I was delighted to have a new audience for that old chestnut which is probably as old as the mountains we were in.

One day I passed a sign that said “Think of the farmers – eat a vegan”. While I was trying to figure out how that could work, I realised that the sign had said “mangez au vegan” – a plea to eat a vegan diet rather “mangez un vegan”, which is entirely different! On second thoughts, maybe the farmer in question is dairy, not arable and I was right first time…(no offence intended to any vegan riders or readers).

“Have you stopped feeling human yet?” “Mate, that happened days ago.”

Of special mention is the gang from Cranleigh Cycling Club, particularly Rob and Andrew K who are also here for the whole tour and Jenny who joined us on stage 8. Alex and I have ridden with them every day and together we have shared a lot of good moments on and off the bike. Thanks chaps, it’s been great so far and we will soon be celebrating in Paris.

In fact I feel like my blog is a joint effort to a degree because I have picked up on comments made by others as well as making my own observations and we are very efficient at sharing photos, so you can never really tell who took which shot.

So on to today. By 11:30 kit was laundered, cleats changed, bike cleaned (more or less), new brake pads fitted and legs massaged. That was all the “must do” activity taken care of and it was time to relax.

After a Caesar salad (green stuff really welcome!) and steak and chips, we took a short walk up to the Notre Dame statue that we saw from afar yesterday. This sits impressively on top of a rock and was made out of 213 cannons that had been used in Napoleon’s victory in Sebastopol.

It was good to be able to do something more normal this afternoon, just as my good friend Hugh W said it would be. This sort of thing just was not possible last week. Hugh – I am now getting close to matching the achievements of you and Gary and I am sure it will be emotional.

I am now in a more relaxed frame of mind, my saddle sores are thanking me for respite and the prospect of what should be an easy day tomorrow is appealing, once I get an early night to consolidate the benefit of having a day off. After that the madness starts again. What is wrong with us that we should want to do this, though in fairness Andrew has wanted to take a shortcut to Paris since Düsseldorf!

A demain.

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 05:45. Transfer: 0h30. Start time: 07:30. Distance: 189.5km. Terrain: lumpy and volcanic. Climbs: two Cat 1, one Cat 3, one Cat 4. Finish: 19:00. Time in saddle: 9h00.

Suffer scores: John 6/10, Alex 5/10.

Local lowdown

Laissac Sévérac l’Église is a stronghold of mountain biking and this is the first time the Tour has been here. Time to break that stranglehold then, though since Christian Prudhomme (designer of the route) says that it will be “hard to tell in what state or shape the peloton will be at the end of this stage” I’m not sure what strength we will have left in order to do that. Tomorrow’s rest day should help us recharge the batteries though.

Tale from the Tour

I have now cycled in this area three times and this was by far the best ride I have had. The scenery was spectacular and I enjoyed the climbs. I can’t deny that the day started somewhat inauspiciously as I was feeling that this was going to be a bad day, until I realised that I was at risk of talking myself into that position. I was certainly very tired but that was no reason not to enjoy myself.

You can tell that a rest day was coming as the clean kit I had left was mismatched! It was the return of the “cycling bishop”, but mixed with TDF and Bigfoot kit!

I was so tired that I felt that I could have done with receiving my resurrection body there and then, but that can wait until heaven. Having got through the day, I am sure that a day off will re-energise me.

So I succeeded in my main objective of getting through the day without falling apart. This was not true of all my kit. Cleats were worn but I have replaced them, brake pads won’t last another week but I have spares that I can fit and annoyingly the Garmin refused to take a charge last night and so died half way round. I think it must have been a dodgy connection as all seems OK now. So the wheels haven’t come off my ride and we have now completed two weeks. Paris is not quite in view yet as we still have the Alps to go, but four out of five mountain ranges have been ticked off.

The ride today started with a gradual lead into the first climb, a 10km Cat 1.  This was a steady 7% all the way up so it was easy to get into a rhythm. The main issue was the amount of loose gravel that has recently been laid on the climb and on part of the subsequent descent. That’s not very pleasant and next week the pros will be racing here! Maybe the course will have been swept or something by then.

We were then into moorland between the first and second feed stops which I did on my own as I was unable to stay with my group on the descent and in the wet. This didn’t bother me because I was happy tapping out the kms and knew we would catch up at lunch. Sometimes you feel isolated, but you are never more than a few minutes away from someone else if you don’t want to be alone.

While having lunch there was a very heavy downpour. By the time that was over, we were all ready to roll again and it stayed largely dry for the rest of the day.

The final Cat 1 climb was another 10km ascent, but with one steep section in the middle at around 14% average. Though I was tired and my brain was saying “sleep”, my legs have been well trained over the last few months and were saying “climb”.  The legs won and with that the hard work was done for the day, though there were a few energy sapping bumps to come.

The final approach to the end afforded some amazing views too.

Because of the position of this ride in the race, I went for a higher score than I might otherwise have given it. We are both tired, though I don’t think Alex was quite as tired as me, and my day did improve.

 

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 06:30. Transfer: none. Start time: 08:00. Distance: 181.5km. Terrain: two peddle strokes upwards and one downwards all day (still adds up to 1,870 metres though). Climbs: two Cat 3. Finish: 18:00. Time in saddle: 7h20.

Suffer scores: John 2.5/10, Alex 2/10.

Local lowdown

Pastis country, if you like such things (which I do!).  Blagnac is on the outskirts of Toulouse where the Airbus is assembled. I used to have Airfix kits. Rodez is in the middle of nowhere – I once missed a connection here and “slept” on the station bench until the first train out in the morning. I was a student then, so it would not have occurred to me to take a taxi into town and find a hotel, where I might have seen the famous gothic cathedral too.

Tale from the Tour

As a post script to last night, after publishing my blog I joined the others to dip my feet in the water.

Today was respite after two tough climbing days – a long flat stage in cooler temperatures – and was very welcome. We are looking forward to just one more day in the saddle tomorrow before we get to our second rest day. In truth, it’s going to feel like our only rest day, given that we had such a small amount of free time last week – out of necessity of course.

Flat surface, but along tree-lined avenues where we were able to get back up to our typical cruising speed of 28-32 kph.

Yet another nice place for a feed stop. I know I need to keep eating a lot to replace all the calories I am burning, but I’m wondering whether I am actually managing to put on weight at the moment!

We had some fun on the ride today. Shortly before the final feed stop I saw a wide, undulating road in front of us and, although it was supposed to be a day that we took it easy, I decided to let rip and fly off the front, using momentum and a high gear to get down quickly and then spinning away to get to the crests. I had thought that the feed stop was only a short distance ahead and so going for a quick blast was not going to upset the group. But I misjudged the distance to go and there was another short Cat 3 climb to come first! Rob had caught me by this point (well, I let him!) and together we raced up that climb, though I blew up about half way. That was enough fun and I don’t think I’ve damaged myself for tomorrow even though we have a fair bit of climbing to do again.

Actually, we did have a bit more fun because we decided on a feed stop 4.5 and dragged other riders into the bar as well!

This was not the quietest of spots, but a great place to cheer on other riders as they went past  – if they weren’t joining us that is. Now don’t get the idea that this is just a booze cruise!  We were only 8km from home and want to enjoy our time on tour too, though you have probably worked that out!

 

The reason for the noise was that there was some kind of car rally going on.

I have mentioned two out of the three nightly awards that are given out, the chapeau and the frog (for noble and ignoble deeds respectively). Tonight the “rider of the day” award went to Emma who is here for four days and is riding with us. Emma really deserves this award because not only is she the youngest rider that has been on tour (she is 19 and very strong) but because she has been putting up with us – five dads, a mum and a weird uncle!

I’ve scored my suffer score slightly higher than Alex, largely because of my stupid attack at the bottom of the last Cat 3 climb. It was fun though!

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 06:30. Second breakfast: 09:00. Transfer: before 2h00 after 1h30. Start time: 09:50. Distance: 101km. Terrain: mountains (2,200 metres climbing). Climbs: three Cat 1. Finish: 17:30. Time in saddle: 5h55.

Breakfasts: 2. Coach transfers: 2

Suffer scores: John 7/10. Alex 7/10.

Local lowdown

Those who have brought their kayaks with them can have a go on the Coupe de France slalom course once we get to Foix. I’ve not spotted any of those on our vans though. First off, we start at Saint-Girons, the self-proclaimed “smiling capital” of the Couserans region. 18 valleys meet here, and there are two “tumultuous” waterfalls that converge here also. Sounds spectacular!

Tale from the Tour

The day started with a bowl of cereal in the car park outside the ski lodge we were in and a trip down the mountain to Saint-Girons where 115 of us crammed into a cafe that has room for 70 – that was something which amused the locals! Here croissants, coffee and orange juice were awaiting us which we consumed while we were briefed on the day’s stage.

No doubt the TV commentators will refer to this as being “explosive” at some point due it being a short stage by Tour standards and with three Cat 1 climbs which could lead to all sorts of attacks going off. Whether it’s explosive depends on whether the heat serves as a detonator or causes a complete melt down. Pushing 40 degrees at times today so any shade was actively sought out.

The initial kms and the first climb passed well enough. Following a short descent we then had a reasonably tough 10km climb to lunch, which also included ice creams! It was really hot again today. It was on that second climb that the attacks started. Not the testosterone-fuelled attacks to be first up the mountain (there may be some of that going on but I am too far back to either know or care), but attacks from horseflies that were desperate to take a bite out of me but I kept swatting them away!  Eventually their attacks petered out – possibly because I was now higher and the temperature slightly cooler but maybe because I was now too salty for them!

The third climb of the day was another 10km ascent, but with a stiff kicker in the last 4km which some of us felt was as bad as the lower slope of the Grand Colombier from last week. Salty sweat was pouring off my face and into my mouth, which was in any case hanging open and drying out while trying to get oxygen into my body. Tough day in the office (furnace more like).

I lost track of how much I was drinking but it was a lot. I tipped another bottle over my head to cool down too.

All the way up that final climb I was desperate not to have to stop. I knew Alex was ahead of me and, as I had not passed or seen him then I knew he must still be going so that knowledge helped me push on too until we met at the top.

The thing about such a stupidly steep climb (average 12%, sections at 18% over 4km) is that you can easily think “should I stop and have a rest for a bit?” but you know that is a recipe for disaster and not an option since, once stopped, it can be difficult to get started again. Sure, some people stopped where the gradient was less steep and so facilitating a restart, but equally that slight easing gives the legs the briefest of moments to recover and you don’t lose momentum. Best to man up then and get on with it. Known as Rule 5 in cycling circles.

Then it was downhill all the way to the finish and we were just able to jump on the first of the coaches that are taking us to the hotel at the start of tomorrow’s ride. So, nothing to be gained from “winning” the stage then.

There, I don’t often give a blow by blow account of the whole day but I thought it merited it. And that was not all. Tonight we are staying in a Novotel and are being served dinner outside!

Alex and I seem to be agreeing on suffer scores more and more  –  a result of the amount of time we are spending together perhaps! 7 seems about right bearing in mind the shortness of the stage, the heat of the day and the good quality hotel which compares favourably to others we have been in!

This is where we have been:

And this is where we are tonight, having  a lovely barbecue by the pool just outside Toulouse:

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 06:30 Transfer: none. Start time: 07:30. Distance: 214.5km. Terrain: mountains (4,500 metres climbing). Climbs: one HC (Port de Balès), two Cat 1, two Cat 2, one Cat 4. Finish: 20:50 Time in saddle: 11h15.

Suffer scores: John 8/10, Alex 8/10.

Local lowdown

Apparently there’s a short cut to miss out one of the climbs if so desired. No chance! This will be my third ascent up the Peyresourde and the main thing I remember is the snack bar at the top where there is the chance of a cheeky beer, being close to the end of the ride. But we will still have one more short climb to go though, so that may have to wait.

Tale from the Tour

This was a great day out and indeed a late finish, but there was a chance for a refreshing beer with dinner! It had started with more busy and uninteresting roads at first and we wonder how TV commentators will cope with some sections of the Tour now that the whole thing is being shown live.

During that first section, I had the opportunity to ride with next year’s ride leader, Emily Chappell, of Transcontinental renown. That’s a 4,000km single race from Belgium to Greece where the riders plot the route themselves passing through certain specified check points and it is entirely unsupported. Unlike the Tour de France which is essentially a series of races, any time spent sleeping or eating is time you are off your bike and not racing, so it really is hardcore and worthy of much respect.

We were soon into the foothills of the Pyrenees and there was a great air of tranquillity, seeing the mountains looming in the background, hearing the streams gently meandering down and spotting  the first signs of snow.

Being up in the mountains is simply glorious even if we have to work hard to get there. It was hot again today, but 25 degrees was OK and sometimes when rounding the bends we were met with a refreshing mountain breeze which was wonderful. I got through loads of water today, using my new bottles because the ones I had brought out with me were now beyond cleaning and I don’t want to get sick.

Today we had the fourth of only 7 HC climbs on the tour with the Port de Balès. This was long, but arguably the previous Cat 1, the Col de Mente, was tougher. Certainly I had been completely drenched in sweat by the end of that one and was pouring cold water on my head to cool down. Had to make sure it was not the bottle with the energy drink in it though, as that would have been a sticky mess and maybe attracted more insects than were already showing interest.

Sufferwise, this was not as bad as Stage 9 because the steepness was not so sharp. It was still probably the third toughest stage on this year’s route I think. Alex and I finished more or less together, though we did yo-yo a bit what with stopping to take photos too. That’s all part of the Tour de Force experience as far as I’m concerned.

And now a sneak preview of tomorrow. Here’s the view that greeted us when we pulled back the curtains this morning:

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 05:45. Transfer: 0h40. Start time: 07:30. Distance: 203.5km. Terrain: “flat” again (1,150 metres climbing). Climbs: one Cat 4. Finish: 17:15. Time in saddle: 7h25.

Ice cream stops: 1.

Suffer scores: John 2.5/10. Alex 2.5/10.

Local lowdown

Before coming out I looked at Eymet’s official site. There’s going to be loads of floral garlands decorating the streets and bikes made out of recycled materials, including vegetables, apparently. They’ve been calling for volunteers to come and help – the towns and villages we pass through love to make a big effort with the decorations and it all adds to the sense of occasion. It’s the first time though Tour passes through Eymet, whereas Pau is on the agenda most years, being a gateway to the Pyrenees.

Tale from the Tour

There was no extraneous faff this morning, though I did have to walk round the car park twice before I found my bike! I know I am not always the most observant but in my defence there were 80-90 riders today. There will be 115 on the road tomorrow – that’s a far cry from the 50 we had for a big part of last week.

We were quickly out of Eymet and on to big roads, so unfortunately although the stage looked like being similar to yesterday, it was long, hot and boring and back to being passed by lots of lorries again. But at least we did not have the cold and the rain of last week so I’m not complaining. 38 degrees in the sunshine was a bit hot though!

Though I didn’t see any vegetable sculptures, what I did appreciate was field after field of sunflowers which are always a cheery sight, from early morning to late afternoon.

There is not much else to say about today, given the profile. Something I was told about a few days ago was that my position on the bike was skew. Not sure if I have always ridden like this or if this was just a sign of fatigue (fellow Bigfoot riders can tell me), but I’ve started to address it now. I’ve been told that I am now more balanced – still unhinged of course, but more balanced!

Some nice scenery was there to be found:

And the ice cream stop shortly before the end was good too!

Not much else to report, though it was funny when we were back at the hotel and some of us were sitting around waiting for our turn on the massage table. Ian’s name was called but he wasn’t there for some reason. So one by one we all started saying “I’m Ian”, “No I’m Ian” until someone shouted from a third floor balcony “I’m Ian and so is my wife”. Had to be there I suppose.

That’s pretty much it for today. Suffer scores slightly up on account of being on main roads for much of the day.

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 06:30. Transfer: none. Start time: 08:00. Distance: 178km. Terrain: flat (1,250 metres climbing). Climbs: two Cat 4. Finish: 17:05. Time in saddle: 7h05.

Suffer scores: John 2/10, Alex 2/10

Chateaux seen: loads. Rivers crossed: many.

Local lowdown

I’m sure many have visited the Dordogne at some point. This is a beautiful area popular with “gourmands” who love their truffles, walnuts and terrines. And we have the famous Lascaux caves around here, picking up on the theme of Neanderthal man whom we came across in Germany. There’s a statue of Cyrano de Bergerac in the finish town, which I have visited before. Doesn’t look at all like Gérard Depardieu who played him in the film (and being an Astérix fan I tend to think of him in his role as Obélix anyway)! Got the necessary big hooter though.

Tale from the Tour

I’ll start with some words about bike faff, a particular condition from which we suffer and it gets exacerbated when there is a lack of time. Sometimes it feels that we really are up against the clock and it can be tricky to deal with.

Serious bike faff started yesterday when there was loads to do in very little time. This meant that I had not inflated my tyres or got my kit properly dry. So this morning I got up earlier than usual as there was a load of kit to pack, some of which was still wet. I was all done, with overnight bag on the van by 7am and thought “great, chance to gather my thoughts and rest up for a bit”.  Then I remembered I had not taken my amnesty bag back to the van (stuff that I don’t need for the week can be left on the van and I’ll get it later). Faff. Back to the room and then I remembered that I had not done my tyres. More faff. Then when I did the rear tyre the valve broke and I had to replace the tube. Stress faff. And it was now nearly time to go. Argh! Then someone wanted to know the details of the problem. My inner chimp (which I was reading about yesterday in Guy Martin’s book) was screaming “how on earth is answering that going to help me?” I had the matter under control but was rushing, not wanting to be distracted so my response, while not rude, was probably a bit short. This bugged me afterwards and I had the chance to make amends at the first feed stop. Graciously the rider understood the pressures we can be under at times and no harm was done.

But then we got off the busy roads and serenity was the watchword for the rest of the ride. Truly this felt like a holiday ride, and after riding through beautiful countryside where we saw chateau after chateau and criss-crossed the Dordogne, we arrived at a beautiful hotel set in the middle of a golf course and which has a swimming pool that I was able to use!

We had a few photo stops and at one point a local agreed to take a photo of us but was convinced the camera was not working even though he had a few goes, all of which involved him holding up the traffic in the process. Barry ended up with 35 copies!

Some more shots:

 

There was no suffering involved today, but it seems rude to score any Tour de France route less than 2. And we did push it a little bit at times and it was quite hot!

Finally, although there was a distinct air of humidity when I opened my case this evening, everything is now bone dry and I’m good to go until the next rest day (that’s five more rides) so all is good and hopefully less faffy. But at 5am tomorrow the whole show kicks off again. I wouldn’t want to be leaving the tour just yet though – it feels like we’ve done the hard yards and each day we are getting closer to Paris. With the new intake of riders I feel like I am in year 2 at college now, with the third and final year to come after the next rest day!

Cycling summary

None, obviously. However, a long journey west in order to be in place for the start of Stage 10 is necessary.

Breakfast: 08:00. Transfer: 7h30. Start time: 09:00. Distance: don’t want to know. Terrain: who cares, I’m on a bus. Climbs: ditto. Finish: 16:30. Time in coach seat: 6h30.

Local lowdown

Despite being so close to the Alps, we swing across to the Dordogne and will make our way back over the coming weeks. So we are not really local to anywhere today!

Tale from the Tour

Thanks again for the messages of support and I am happy that people are enjoying reading the blog. For my part, I am really enjoying writing it even though the demands of the day are such that I can’t do it until at least 10pm once everything is ready for the morning. I think it helps me to unwind even though it means staring at a small screen, which isn’t supposed to be good for you.

Yesterday I could have simply said that I made a salami and cheese sandwich to take with me, that I had to use a lot of kit and that my hands are now a little numb after doing some hard climbing. That, I think, would have been a bit boring!

In fact it may interest you to know that I came up with the competitions idea while climbing Mont du Chat. It certainly helped distract me from the difficulty of that climb!

Not much news is permeating the cycling bubble. As I write this, practically the only thing I know is that the Lions beat New Zealand on Saturday, setting the series up nicely for the decider next week. There was a big cheer at feed stop 2 when we found that out! There has been some talk as to whether that stage will be short enough for us to be able to start later, after the match has finished, but that idea’s a non-starter.

In Perigueux I would have bought a newspaper, probably the sports paper, L’Equipe! And I would have saved it for future use to help dry out wet shoes if we get caught in a bit of rain again. But given that we arrived late afternoon it was all rush again, this time to get the clothes washed and the bike cleaned. Well all after a fashion. Kit is a bit damp still and hopefully will air off overnight. Bike is less dirty than it was but at least the drive chain is clean and lubed.

A lot of new people joined us today, those who will be riding either 2 or 4 stages. Dinner was good.

Cycling summary

Breakfast: 05:30. Transfer: 1h00. Start time: 08:00. Distance: 181.5km. Terrain: mountainous. Climbs: three HC (Col de la Biche, Grand Colombier, Mont du Chat), one Cat 2, two Cat 3, one Cat 4). Finish: 21:30. Time in saddle: At least 9 hours (Garmin battery died).

Suffer scores: John 8/10, Alex 9.5/10.

Local lowdown

The other area I reconned in May, so do checkout “In search of mountain legs”. Suffice to say that the climbs on today’s stage afford the most spectacular scenery I have ever witnessed. Don’t forget to look over your shoulder when climbing, and on a clear day you can see what feels like the entire Alpine range, with Mont Blanc dominating. More stunning lakes at the start and finish too. Nantua is known for its crayfish sauce which goes well with pike, not that I’m so fussed about that. With Chambéry, however, we are heading back into cheese country, Savoie this time though in fairness you’re never too far away from a nice cheese in France! Yum.

Tale from the Tour

That’s the first part of the Tour completed and it’s competition time!

Competition 1: which of the items on my breakfast tray made their way to my back pocket so that I would have an extra snack? Clue: jersey pockets tend to be porous.

Competition 2: today has required me to carry lots of items, due to weather conditions and the need to be able to wrap up for the descents. Circle the places where I am storing the following:

Yellow rain jacket, clear waterproof jacket, space blanket, arm warmers, gloves, pump, biscuits, brioche, wallet, gels, phone, glasses.

Actually if you can find my glasses that would be helpful as I think they got buried in molten lava (well, rotten socks) that spewed forth after yesterday’s nightly suitcase explosion.

Competition 3: after 9 days in the saddle, which part of me hurts the most? Legs, knees, shoulders, arms, hands, back, somewhere else? Clue: it’s not where you might think.

First prize is this lovely view of the Alps from the top of the Mont du Chat:

Second prize is this one:

To claim your prize, send your answers to youmusbejoking.com.

I was thrilled to complete today’s stage, in particular completing the unfinished business on Grand Colombier where I had not used the correct ascent on my recon. It was “comfortably” the hardest climb I have ever done, being able to see long stretches of road at 17-22% in front of me. My dear fellow cyclists – think Kidds Hill in the Ashdown forest and supercharge that to give you some idea.

Funny how the mind plays tricks. I remember the Col de la Biche as being hard at the bottom but opening up into a very pleasant pastoral meadow at the top. The brain had clearly deselected the fact that the stuff in the middle was really hard too. I was wearing my winter jacket at that time to avoid the issues of yesterday, but was able to leave that in my day bag once I got to the top.

The Mont du Chat was the final categorised climb, though it was almost the little ramp just after the descent that made me get off! In fact many of us commented on that afterwards – I think legs had had enough!

In terms of suffering, this is not suffering as the world unfortunately knows it and may the Lord have mercy on them. This is just sporting, self-inflicted and wholly unnecessary of course. With that caveat, today was “enjoyable” suffering, “sense of achievement” suffering, “the reason I am here” suffering.  I’ve scored it less than the windy stage, to which I gave a 9 in the expectation that this would be a 10. This is largely on account of the fact that on the run in to the Mont du Chat I was feeling much stronger than I had any right to expect.

And now, finally, a rest day. The chance to chuck the contents of my case into a washing machine and to get ready to go again.

 

I somehow lost my preloaded page, so no local geography lesson today.

Start 08:00. Transfer 1h00.  Terrain – mountains (approx 4,000 metres climbing – Garmin playing up). Climbs one cat 3 one cat 2 one cat 1. Finish time 19:50. Time in saddle 9h30.

Suffer scores: John 6/10, Alex 5.5/10.

Despite heavy rain most of the day and light rain for most of the rest, I enjoyed today and found that being back in the mountains lifted my morale after a couple of monotonous days.

Between feed stops 2 and 3 I was looking back on my experience on the Tourmalet in 2015 and knew that I had been higher, wetter and colder than I was today. That gave me encouragement and I was feeling ok though my teeth were chattering. At the feed stop, I was ushered into the van to eat my lunch while wrapped in a foil blanket which helped me get warm again. I also had some dry clothes to put on, which helped. I kept the blanket under my jersey for the rest of the day too!

At breakfast we realised that we are now becoming delirious at times and odd things are happening. Andrew came to the table with an eclectic mix of food items and ended up with a gingerbread and cheese sandwich! Still ate it though – need the fuel.

Later on, I was trying to say something to Andrew, using all the right words but in the wrong order (a la Eric Morecombe on the piano!). “What’s that your trying to say mate? Sounds like gibberish.”

After lunch it was a bit warmer, a little less wet but much more picturesque. I was taking it easy, knowing that we have the toughest day of the Tour tomorrow (Galibier stage will run it close). I was also taking photos and knew I would end up getting in quite late as a result, but I am here to appreciate France too, in those parts of the country which allow us to do so!

Lots of wet kit today but the hotel staff spent the night tumble drying it which was good of them. In fact they opened the hotel a week earlier than planned, specifically for us. This was very much appreciated, not least because the hotel was on the finish line itself, the alternative being 14km further on.

Alex and I both enjoyed the ride and my suffer score is higher than his on account of me getting so cold. I should have worn my full winter jacket, which I will do tomorrow for the start at least. Forecast is for the weather to improve during the day. We shall see!