Half way point ...

Beginning to feel like groundhog day as we set off, heads down, for day 7 of our French adventure.


The day worked much like yesterday ... quite a few hills, and some glorious downhill to take the pressure off our poor buttocks!!  Just under 65 miles covered and just over 4,000 feet climbed ... not bad for a bunch of amateurs.  


The day started slowly ... aching muscles and maybe a touch too much wine last night for some (not Nigel who continues to remain sober as part of a personal challenge he's set) but as the day progressed spirits lifted and the team pressed on with increasing vigour. 


Lunch came early, but having decided that the main road wasn't the best place for us to stop we backtracked 100 metres to a little car park next to a stream.  Unfortunately this is where communication fell down and we lost Tony for a good 45 minutes! Turns out he'd ventured inside to a local hotel having been told it was a beautiful traditional French hotel with waitresses in great outfits!  When he came back outside, five minutes later, the rest of the team had vanished.  Unsure where to go, Tony started to hobble around the village then onwards to Monte Carlo, with no bike, phone or directions.  Needless to say, when he finally found the group he was somewhat frustrated! 


As lunch ended the grey clouds moved in and we set off to an increasing rainfall.  Ten minutes in and it was a full on hail storm!  Ten minutes later and the team were stripping as the sun shone through once more.  Then came the hill ... a mother of all hills!  I don't think any of us thought it would end .... but after some stunning scenery and some very tired legs we were greeted with a 6km downhill into our final resting point for the day.


Much like the hare and the tortoise, Paul (the other half of Bespoke Tours) took off on his 1200 cc BMW motorbike to set out our markers for the journey with the aim of stopping at the 20 and 40 mile markers for breaks.  Little did he realise that the day's fastest riders - George, Matt and Nigel - were hot on his heels and at the end of the day reached the hotel just ten minutes behind him, completing the full distance in just over 5 hours!  An incredible achievement I'm sure you'll agree!  Lisa followed shortly afterwards with a huge smile on her face proving her love for the hills continues.  Thirty minutes later our back markers, Antonio, Ally, Ren and Tony arrived at the hotel having enjoyed a more leisurely pace with the hope of hurting slightly less than the others in the morning ... everyone seems full of beans today!!

Day 7 and proud!

Upon arrival at our lovely hotel in a beautiful village called Couches, we were greeted by one heck of a thunderstorm.  Madness kicked in when Ally and Lisa decided enough was enough and embraced the storm, dancing around and screaming with excitement whilst being pelted by rain and then large hail stones!!

Check out that cloud!!!

No one got lost today which, by our standards, is somewhat of a miracle. Thank god for Paul the Pathfinder and Shaun the Shepherd and their exceptional patience and professionalism, dealing with an ever fatigued and confused team of weary cyclists.

We are in a lovely hotel tonight, and looking forward to a dinner of beef and home made pasta, for some much needed energy, driving our legs into day 8 of 14.

Onward we wince, to the home of the Prince.