Rained all day, possibly the worst weather I have cycled in for an extended period, basically it didn't stop all day and was not a day for cycling unless you had to.The day started badly by Matt's tyre punctured noisely whilst we taking a photo at the start, in fact in the photo below we are wincing as we hear it go go down.
The route took us across a double train track that had no road across it, so we were forced into a 'Stand By Me' style track crossing.....seconds a giant goods train carrying pallets and cars came thundering by.
The scenery was ok, not quite the Morvan region of yesterday and we couldn't see much in the spray anyway.
We also started too late at the time of 10am which meant we were behind schedule all day. We finally got into the Bourg-en-Bresse at about 8pm.
Matt and Amy got deluged on the road as a Dutchman passed them at pace...the water was overly warm that raised suspicions as to the origination.
The campsite last night gave me a Tour de France flag as a souvenir of the region which was nice, and the campsite tonight was just as friendly.Even the roadside decorations in the shape of figures looked miserable, covered up in bin-liners.
Before after six stages and before we hit the alps, here is a quicky summary of the status of the three riders who are still on track for completing the full tour.
Matt : Feeling 7/10 at moment (tired and feels like he's been attacked with a cheese grater on his rear-end), confidence of finishing 2/10.Amy : Feeling 8/10 (butt-cuts issues), confidence of finishing 9/10 (legs feel ok)
Mark : Feeling 9/10 (slightly sore knees), confidence of finishing 8/10 (mountains to come).
Right now it is 11.45pm, the rain is hammering the roof of the campervan and there is talk of bringing a rest day forward to cover the forecasted deluges tomorrow. We don't want to cheat and still intend to complete in 3 weeks, but maybe there are some logisitical juggling opportunities to avoid another 8 hours of riding in heavy rain.
Stats and Google Earth link here
1 comment:
After reading this morning that it could be a rest day i am waiting for the decision! If it has rained as much over there as it has over here today then you may have been struggling. In terms of the sores, young Beatrice is having a similar problem at the moment... the thing we use which clears it up is pure lanolin - it is breast feeding cracked nipple cream and although it sounds like the wrong thing to be sticking on your 'arris it does seem to heal cuts and sores at a remarkable rate (18-24 hrs) I bet you could get it at most good pharmacies. Not sure they will have an industrial sized tube to smother Matt's back side but you never know...! (the other issue is that Beas skin is as smooth as a peach... not with the texture of a breeze block)
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