Leg 1 was a long one - Parentis-En-Born to Ygos-Saint-Saturnin - 67kms of flat cycling - operation Le Peleton was introduced again with 2km stints for each rider as leader. In the saddle were Chris, Neil, Mike and Nick with Lyn sourcing picnic goodies and a coffee stop.
Leg 2 from Ygos-Saint-Saturnin was a little shorter in length and introduced the team gently back to a thing called 'A HILL'. Certainly a shock to the system but the leg was ridden in under 2 hours - good effort.
Good picnic spot for lunch but we were also reintroduced to a thing called 'RAIN'. Just about got lunch done before the heavens opened up making leg 3 an interesting one! HILLS turned more serious in leg 3 from Samadet to Pau with one climb to 1000ft. Around 17kms from the end of the day Chris climbed out of the saddle to push hard and 'SNAP', a busted chain - end of the day for him leaving just Lyn and Neil out on the road to complete the final leg.
Day ended at 5.30pm - top effort in changeable riding conditions. We ended the day in Pau, at the northern edge of the Pyrenees. 160kms for the day - congratulations to Neil who completed the whole day.
The big one is planned for tomorrow - the climb of the Col d'Aubisque which is the second most famous climb in the Pyrenees after Tourmalet and has been included in the Tour De France 70 times! We are really looking forward to this but have been contingency planning tonight as there is rain forecast for tomorrow.
Ended today with a great evening out. Pau held the first race to be called a Grand Prix in 1901 and they still have a track that is used today for vintage car racing and we happened to be in town just ahead of this event. We had a couple of beers and traditional french cheeses and meats at one of the event tents and then hunted out a great restaurant for our evening meal - best of the tour so far.
Good day all round despite afternoon rain - let's hope the forecast is wrong for tomorrow! A few pictures from today are below:
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| The bull ring at Aubagnan |
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| Must be getting closer to Spain - a bull ring at Aubagnan |
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| Changing weather at lunch in Samadet |
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| Sampling the beer and nibbles and Pau Grand Prix celebration |
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| Drinks and nibbles in every tent - wonderful! |
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| Lots of history of Grand Prix at Pau |
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| Neil, exchanging views with the locals |
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| Pau |
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| Our restaurant in Pau - magnificent dining |
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| Ready to eat |
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| Thomas the Tank running round our restaurant tonight at ceiling level |
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| One huge potato field |
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| Our support team on final 'wet leg' to Pau - fast asleep on duty! |
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| The road split by a church! |
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| Nick, did you not learn any Geography at school? |
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| Our coffee stop at Ygos-Saint-Saturnin |
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| Ready for leg 1 on day 5 |
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