"The weather was on everyone's mind as we got up today: after yesterday's heavy rains, were we going to get more water or would we be allowed to ride in dry conditions? "Scattered showers and local storms in the South-East" was what the weatherman predicted on TV. Oh no...! Well, we don't have a choice anyway.
After a full English breakfast with fried eggs, cooked tomatoes, sausages, bacon, beans in tomato sauce, mushrooms, toast and crumpets with Marmite spread and a yogurt, we watched the other teams depart in the "scattered showers" mentioned earlier: repeated sessions of heavy rain followed by a break or even a sunny spell, before a new deluge. Repeat in a loop, ad nauseam, and add very strong winds and you have an idea of the whole day. I never ever cycled in that much rain! We just hoped it wouldn't be raining when our starting time arrived so we could warm up first...but of course that was just wishful thinking.
Today's stage was going to be 110 kms long with a bit more climbing than the previous two days as we'd go up and down the Southdowns and the Northdowns before reaching London but our team wanted to make a total 400 kms for the ride and we decided to add both distance and climbing to the programme, to skip the first stop and go directly to the lunch meeting point. The weather and the lack of technical support in case of trouble (a new puncture fest?) were potential issues but we decided to try anyway. "
For the full story head on over to my blog here.
It's not too late to donate and you can donate directly to Laurent here:
http://2011.paristolondonbikeride.com/laurentdepus2011
Rememberthe bike will be auctioned off at the end of the ride to raise more money for this amazing cause.
For more information on the bike head here.
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