Day 9 Sunday Sweat evaporates quickly at high speeds.

30 June 2013 St-Girons to B’de Bigorre 165 km(103miles) 5 mountains 1xcat2, 4xcat1.

Today the riders covered in total 116 miles (185km) with 4,197 metres of climbing as a few extra miles was needed to get to the hotel. The riders got to the hotel at 7pm yesterday (day 8) but were up gain at 05:15 today to load up luggage then have breakfast prior to the transfer to St Girons all in time to start riding at about 8am. An early start was essential because the day was going to be really tough. At the briefing the night before cyclists were warned that Bagnores de Bigorre was a real dump and that it was necessary to cycle to another town – Odor, to the hotel, adding another 22 km. The day was a bit gloomy when we arrived at the carpark in St Girons to find our bikes out and ready for use. The riders prepared themselves for mountain riding. The weather had been forecasted to be overcast becoming sunny and hot later. When riding in mountains it is essential to have access to the cold weather gear in case the weather changes suddenly. Nick set off with arm warmers, leg warmers, gilet and full finger gloves, Matt was similarly dressed but without leg warmers. As they progressed up the first mountain to the Col de Portet D’Aspet their work rate dictated that they needed to strip off a bit. During the climbs the riders get very very hot and sweaty but on descents they freeze as sweat evaporates quickly at high speeds particularly if their muscle activity drops, the final result is that they get very cold as they hurtle downhill. Lots of dressing and undressing is required.

Today’s descents were particularly challenging. Although the roads are generally quite good and pothole free there was a lot of debris and gravel. Gravel is the last thing a rider needs to meet on a corner whilst coming down a mountain, so extreme caution was required. Three lifers had problems, Peigi locked up a front wheel and went over her handlebars and really shook herself up. Matt was first on the scene to help her out and to get her out of her pedals. Amazingly he said she was fully conscious and had hardly a scratch on her. Perhaps even more surprisingly an AE consultant – Dr Sarah of the TdF team was on the scene in less than one minute. By the time Nick got there all appeared to be OK so he sailed on past. Elsewhere there was another incident involving Shen – another lifer, he came off his bike when a car backed out in front of him and he broke a collar bone. Donald who has already been mentioned in previous reports had a front wheel puncture on a descent and so he too came off. Fortunately it is a rest day tomorrow so Peigi and Donald should be fit to continue, however the ride is now over for Hsien. The cycling was a major challenge today but the weather was georgeously sunny and the views have been truly spectacular. When studying the pictures taken by the riders the valleys below look so low and far away. It seems a little difficult to comprehend that the riders have cycled all the way up one side and all the way down each of the five massive climbs today.

It is essential to maintain hydration under these hot conditions. Matt refilled his 800 ml water bottles 5 times each, making 8 litres consumed and Nick did much the same. Matt’s knee is much better now that he is taking regular ibuprofen. Some of the support team will be leaving tonight and Matt will need to say goodbye to Jen the physio – she has given a great deal of attention to his knees and to his swollen legs, all the riders will be sorry to see her go.

Tomorrow is a transfer day where the riders will be carried 400 miles to Brittany. The announcement of breakfast at 06:00 and coaches at 06:30 was met by a somewhat muted groan. It is a day off the bike tomorrow and some of the part-tour riders are leaving. This combination triggered a need for beer amongst the riders at dinner but the restaurant first ran out of glasses! Paper cups were used then they ran out of beer, but perhaps it is just as well otherwise there might have been a few thick heads around on the coach.

30th June, St-Girons to B'de Bigorre, 165km, 5 mountains, 1xcat4, 4xcat1
Do not despair if you are reading this and groaning when you see it is me writing again. They have had a rest day today while they travelled the 500miles up to Brittany through France by coach to the start of the next leg so Nick will have prepared a lot of stuff ready to upload when they arrive at the hotel. (You can stop drooling now.)
Anyway, they were surprisingly upbeat when they rang last night, it had been hard but they are getting used to it now (or it could have been the prayers working but I didn't tell Nick!) It had felt pretty good today and he had been tanking along, his bike running like a dream and he even got a second wind towards the end but it could have just been the thought of not having to get back in that saddle the next day. Matt did really well again and they have helped each other by working as a team. They are actually the oldest and the youngest lifers (ie doing the whole route). The roads themselves have been worse today with a lot of loose gravel and there have been two bad accidents with one guy going over the handle bars and ending up with concussion and another broken shoulder blade......eek, why am I letting them do this????
Unfortunately, the physio Jen, who has been brilliant working wonders with Matt's knees, is going home tomorrow but there will be a replacement coming in her place.
Hopefully they will be well rested after their journey north and ready to take on the challenges of the next stage which will be flatter but, as we know only too well in Norfolk, windier. It will be nice to have a change of scenery anyway.
From your own correspondant. Michelle