Stage Eight done

It has been an eventful 48 hours. Hot, that goes without saying. Plenty of sun cream but I still have burnt lips. My hydration and eating is good so a day in the saddle feels a bit easier. Stage Seven, the flat stage was so long and we were always riding into the sun.. Village water fountains were magical as well as the odd cafe for cold water. A lady and her daughter even topped up my bottles late in the day as I passed their house.

28 tractors spotted working the fields, not that I was counting!  Lots of road repairs ahead of the real race starting on Saturday. Scenery was just stunning, shame I am not quite enjoying them, all the time. The days ebb and flow with different energy levels and motivation. Unfortunately I had a small crash on Stage Seven. You don’t need the details but I have scars and grazes, now I look like a proper cyclist. I had to avoid a bloody tractor and trailer of all vehicles and came off braking on new tarmac - it felt like skating on ice. My first fear was for the bike of course, but it was repaired over night. I had to be transported to the hotel - just 20 km from the end. Doctors cleaned my wounds and I passed the head assessment. I was a shame to finish Stage Seven in this way - I was riding strongly most of the day. It could have been worse - I ride safely though and keep my speed down so that crashes are less likely.

With Seven done and a decent feed albeit late - 10am. I still had clothes to wash etc. I was in bed by midnight.

The Stage Eight. Back in the hills and what hills they proved to be. Six challenging climbs on route to St Étienne. Another blisteringly hot day - my temperature gauge had us at 40 degrees mid afternoon, on narrow exposed roads. Found a nice ice cream shop though - lovely. There was also a large snake on the road, shudder, it was dead - phew. This day was simply relentless and at 4pm at the last feed stop we were hit by a huge thunderstorm. Rain, lightening and huge hailstones - literally like marbles.  Sheltering in a van or anywhere was essential. We ate crisps, drank coke and waited. It passed over but not for 45 minutes.

Any way as a result of yet another very hard day. I have decided myself to rest from Stage Nine. Despite eating and drinking I am running on empty most of the time and power has drained from my legs. If I don’t take a break now then the proper mountains of the Pyrenees and Alps will be in danger of not being ridden very far each day by me. Sorry folks to provide this news but I am finding it harder than anyone not to ride Stage Nine. My body is telling me to rest and recover. I will then be able to ride Stage Ten to Albi - a Tour rest day then comes and get back on track as we travel down to Pau. I don’t do this lightly but I have to. Hearing the rest of the cyclists set off on Stage Nine was horrible. I felt like I wasn’t one of the group anymore.

For all of my readers, no sympathy please. I have ridden well and hard but I love the mountains and the heat should cool with the altitude- I don’t want to miss any of the second half and I also want to ride with my son William on the Nimes stage.  No rest now could have led to a tour exit - embarrassing.

So I will have time to catch up on the Blog and stats etc on Stage Nine and answer some of your questions.