Yesterday was a day all about tomorrow, which is today and will soon be yesterday.
Today is followed by tomorrow which part of today should have been about, if
you follow. I have to confess that it wasn’t. Which might be an issue when
tomorrow comes. That makes sense to me, but I’m tired and weary and might not make
sense to you.
Today was a tough day. Every day now is tougher than the
last. That might be because the stages are progressively longer and higher and
steeper. Or it be in part due to increasing fatigue, the cumulative effect of
8 hard days on the bike. Part of it too, might be lack of sleep. We are only
getting around 6 hours a night and precious little time to relax in between.
That means recovery times are affected and that means more tiredness. If you
forgive the pun, it’s a vicious cycle. Legs are beginning to throb. Arses are
beginning to chafe, hands hurt from gripping the bars, feet hurt from pushing
the pedals, skin hurts from too much sun, eyes are heavy from lack of sleep.
But I say this not for sympathy. God no. I am having the time of my life. Every
day is special and brings a new challenge.
Today wasn’t a great day (it was still fantastic, but it had
its challenges). It started off well, with a good group ticking off the miles
nicely. Then at the bottom of the climb things started to go a little awry. A
puncture and a pump that didn’t work = frustration. The puncture took longer
than it should have to fix. Big Phil took a bullet and stayed with me to help
me fix the puncture and pace me back to the main group. He didn’t need to, but
he did, and for that I am hugely grateful.
Then Phil and I missed a turn on the climb and ended up
doing 6k of fruitless climbing, and blowing our chance of getting back to the
group. Then my gears started to fail, meaning I had to get off and manually
shift my gear into the wee ring, and god did I need the wee ring. Then I
started to bonk half way up the climb and had to pull the emergency rip chord
and take a gel.
The Port de Pailheres and I have an unhappy history. A few
years ago I did the same climb and near passed out at the top. I managed the
climb better this time, but not as well as I really wanted. She didn’t beat me
today, but it was a score draw at best. I am going to have to go back…
Today will soon be yesterday and tomorrow is fast hoving into view and it’s a really tough
stage. Five categorised climbs, four Cat 1s and a Cat2. That means serious
hills. I might regret not thinking about it until now.
It’s late, well it’s late in my little bubble, and I am dog
tired. I have breakfast at 0530 and need to get all my stuff together before
that. Sorry this entry was so brief. There is so much I want to say and so many
stories I have to tell. But they will have to wait. Right now, more than
anything I need my precious 6 and a half hours sleep. I’m sure you will
understand.
From Ax Les Therme,
N
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