The joys of Summer

Best bit about today was finishing!
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Summer in the south of France conjures up images of sultry sun drenched days and so it was quite a disappointment to awake to rain on the roof - again. So our final challenge amidst this overall tour was to summon up once more the inclination to absorb getting absolutely drenched while completing the stage to Angouleme. The rain eased somewhat before we departed and we were on our way north.

Very undulating start to the day as the boys cycled into the increasingly heavy rain. If we werent ascending, we were descending. We then hit a flattish patch after 30km and turned up the wick a bit averaging about 35 kph for 45 minutes which was great fun even in the wet. Nev had his ‘Jan’ Ullrich face on as he churned through the kilometres with Andy following close behind in his jet wash. Just shows the benefits of minds fixed firmly on the end destination. We didn’t really need our water bottles at this stage as the rain coming off the front of our helmets formed a continuous stream.

Quite a disappointment to awake to rain on the roof - again.

And soon enough we were finished, bringing to an end the main part of the Andy and Nev Tour de France, 2008 edition. We are slightly dazed by what we have done; we rode for four weeks for 100km a day, six days on, one day off over flats, plains, hills and mountains through sunshine, wind, rain, fog and snow. Only the ceremonial stage ride into Paris to go and shouldn’t have much trouble getting motivated for that!

Total for the day: 77.5km in 2 hrs 50 min. Total to date 2456km.