We aimed for a big day today and really pushed ourselves. The roads were flat, the sun was out and it was almost perfect cycling conditions. We powered through the morning managing 40 miles by lunch, stopping at the side of the road for a bite to eat and to check the maps. We used a local (old) cyclist as our pace setter knowing when we needed to up the pace in order to always stay ahead of him. A tough task indeed.
The wind picked up in the afternoon so we slip streamed for 10 miles or so, however, unluckily Char cycled into the back of Matty sending her flying off her bike. A quick recovery from Char´s grazed knee, elbow and shoulder and we were back on the road again.
Time was slipping away as we approached the 70 mile mark and before long one of the team members was lagging: Matty had hit a wall, not literally, but was beggining to feel the strain from all the miles in the heat . Luckily enough Chris was on hand with a well received emergency Mars Bar and rallied the troops for a motivational speach quoting just about every Rocky movie.
At mile 90 the pace had slowed and it was getting darker by the minute. Now it was Ben´s chance to lead the team as we hit our highest speed of the day, flying through some small French villages and smashing the 100 mile barrier for the first time.
At mile 100.03 we pulled over, set up tent and were asleep before our heads hit the pillows/rolled up towels.
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