Today is a rest day. We started the day in Tarbes in the
South West of the country in the Pyrenees on the Spanish border. We will sleep
tonight up in Brittany, On the North coast. Home to Bernard Hinault, the last
great French rider. The journey has involved an 8 hour bus ride. Given the
transfer this has meant that the rest day has not been as restful as perhaps we
would have liked. Mind you, I guess it’s preferable to do it in a bus, rather
than on the bike. I have a stack of laundry to do when I arrive. I assume that
most of the group will be thinking similar. So, by the time I get round to
resting then it might well be time to go to bed.
When I was preparing for the tour one piece of advice I was
given was always to be thinking three days in ahead and riding with them in mind. This rest day has been the focus of much of my attention
for the last few days. ‘Get through today and your rest day is one day closer’
has been a constant maxim. And here it is. I have survived to the rest day, but
I’ve done more than survive. I feel strong, I have been riding well within
myself and my legs feel strong. I
have had the confidence and discipline to let other riders go away from me if
they are riding harder than is in my plan. That has been more difficult than it
sounds, sometimes it’s hard to ride your own race. I have had to check in my
ego, I keep having to remind myself that the objective here is Paris, not to
chase an ephemeral Strava King of the Mountain. Perhaps I could do both, but
the risk of blowing myself up is not worth the scant reward. Paris is the gold
at the end of the rainbow and that is where my focus is, all else is just noise.
As each day
passes my confidence increases. If anything I think I might have been riding
too gently. However, the plan has worked up until now and I don’t see the need
to change. I will have to work hard to temper my natural competitive urge but
If I can get to the next rest day feeling as strong as I do today, then I will
be ready to take on the Alps. If I can give my body proper opportunity to
recover, who knows, perhaps I can be even stronger than I was in Corsica.
And so the first 9 Stages have been completed. The first
chapter is done. The next section, will be slightly easier than the first, I
think. We have a rest day today and a flat, although, long section tomorrow.
Then a time trial. I am viewing these days as a chance to rest and recuperate.
I will try and ride tomorrows stage in a group (L’Autobus Ecosse) and take it
slow, not getting much above a recovery effort. The time trial too, will be
nothing more than a recover ride for me. Some of the group will try and race
it. I would dearly love to have a blast and rip up the course, but I can ride a
time trial anytime, so I will keep a lid on it. We then have 4, mainly flat,
long stages that take us right through the heart of France. Which will finish
in a crescendo atop the Mont Ventoux. Again the watch words will be conserve,
conserve, conserve so that I arrive in Bedoin as fresh as possible and ready to
renew an old acquaintance. I am licking my
lips in anticipation already.
From Brittany,
N
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