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11th Jul 2009 Bike 4 Cancer Blog : 8th - 10th July
Friday 10th July
Another lone long stage! The boys got up early, left camp and then headed into town for the necessary croissants from the local Boulangerie. The weather looked ominous as the team headed out of Vitel and it wasn’t long before the sun disappeared and it turned decidedly cold. The riders warmed up on the category 2 climb out of Geradmer whilst enjoying views across the lake; however once reaching the summit of the Col the wind ripped through the valley chilling the team to the bone – this made the normally fun descent more of a torture; nevertheless, with brakes adjusted, the boys went for it.
In the afternoon the riders had to tackle two category 1 climbs (the worst is a HC, the easiest is a category 5). The first of these to the top of Col du Platzerwasel at 1183m was particularly brutal with the gradient reaching 16% on more than one occasion. 1193m was however not the summit and the RG followed the support boys up a few more tough kms before enjoying a super fast descent. Two more climbs had to be tackled before the finish, but these were dispatched with ease as was the final 20km of free wheeling into Colmer. The landscape of this region is heavily Germanic and at times the team had to remind themselves there were still in France. Total calories 9850Kcal, number of ice creams consumed 1 (would be more but the French don’t seem to like opening up for business)
Leaving the campsite in Tonnere the riders set off in grey and cold conditions for a very long stage. After an enjoyable morning of riding the team regrouped in Les Riceys - a beautiful town in the centre of the Champagne region. The buildings clearly show that the production 'bubbles' is not for a poor man! The team were also treated to the displays put on by the villages through which the Tour passes - many have put an elaborate display involving old bikes and even some very large bicycles the height of telegraph poles or one made of straw bales. Video and photos will follow soon.
After a short visit to the Charles de Gaulle memorial the team had another lunch made by James and Tom before heading for the rest of the ride. The scenery changed after lunch and was reminiscent of New Zealand or Australia; with cattle crazing on the grass enjoying water supplied by wind driven artesian wells.
The second of the three transition stages this was another long stage of just under 120 miles (192km). The morning was easy going with both riders arriving at lunch feeling relaxed.
The wind changed direction in the afternoon as the countryside became more rolling making the ride more challenging. Once again RMW rode strongly finishing ahead of the other English team on the road. He was pleased that the sun made an appearance and the rain held off. RG had a few issues as the afternoon developed with his knee again hurting and narrowly avoided a crash as the cleat of his right shoe broke. With the support team nowhere to be seen he battled on to the finish 50km away. For further information: |
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