Stage 19: Paris Calling

It is becoming a much worn refrain: It is late, I am tired and I have to be up early and do it all again. So I am afraid, out of necessity this will be a brief entry. I will come back and update it later, however, as there are stories a plenty to be told.

Today was tough. By god it was tough. But there is the rub. It WAS tough. Past tense, you see. It is tough no longer. It is in the past, put away in the locker. Completed. And that, essentially, is all that matters.

Two of the hardest hills we have climbed, tackled almost as soon as we got out our front door. Possibly the two hardest climbs in the Alpes, the Glandon and the Madeleine. Then three more Cat 1 and 2 climbs, on a stinking hot day, with a head wind, and over 200kms of riding. When you mix that all together, you get a stinker of a day.

My over whelming emotion tonight, however is one of pride. Not for myself, but for the guys that I have been riding with on and off over the last three weeks. John, Chris, Trevor, Peter, Lee, Marianne, Phil, Nick, Matt. We christened ourselves, somewhat depreciatively, l’Autobus Ecosse. With the exception of John and Lee, none of these guys consider themselves ‘proper’ cyclists. We have trundled along over the last three weeks going at our own pace. Never first back to the hotel, but never last. Always there to look out for each other and sharing more than a few belly laughs along the way. 

Yet today, on the hardest stage of the tour all of these guys were amongst the first riders home. They weren’t racing, they just continued to trundle along. Perhaps others haves slowed, I don’t know. I do know that every day these guys have got stronger and stronger. When I looked at some of the faces at dinner tonight, there were some broken bodies. L'Autobus? Some of them looked like they had just come back from a stroll in the park.

The Glandon, The Madeleine, Col de Tamie, Col l’Epine, Col de Croix Fry, over 200km and 5,000m of climbing, in one day. When you add in past conquests of Ventoux, Port de Pailheres, the Alpe x2, plus countless other climbs, it’s a mighty impressive feat.

You may not have been proper cyclists on the 22^nd of June. But some time between then and now, you changed. There is now no way you can consider yourselves anything other than bona fide masters of the velocipede.

I am deeply impressed by each of you.

Chapeau, indeed.

From Le (not so) Grand Bornand,

N

PS I have had some fantastic support from both near and far over the last three weeks. None more so than from my Auntie Linda. It’s her birthday tomorrow. Tomorrow sees the last proper hard stage and hopefully we will be supping some champers. I will raise a glass to you, too Linda.