Tour de France: Day 4
Day 4
Day 4 and our biggest so far, all told we did 140km. The typical day starts at 6am ish with a check of emails and news, then breakfast, back to the room to do a final pack, take the gear to the bus and collect the bike, do a check of the bike and then at get together and push of at 8 am. Along the way we have photo opportunities and stops at interesting sites and villages. Today we stopped at a very old roman bridge leading into a nice village. Further along the road we stopped at a pastry shop and bought some interesting treats. The next stop is usually lunch at around 40 km from the finish. This consists of a bread roll, fruit, and water. Then its on the bike a slow start to shake out that post lunch lactic acid. The closer to the end some might push the speed but that soon gets pulled back. We then either have a quick look around the town, find a bar have a beer and wait until we can get into our hotel. Its then into the room shower, washing and then another check of emails etc and then off to briefing at 6.30pm followed by dinner at 7pm. We might have a showing of the 2000 DVD and then its the football on the TV then sleep.
Today we travelled to Nantes through rolling country dropping along the way down to the 5th largest city in France. The day was uneventful except for a small fall by the Chairman. He quickly bounced back up and we were on our way. Saw a great many small villages and farms. A very enjoyable day with no pressure on the legs! We spent a couple of hours biking around the city probably breaking every French rule of the road code but the drivers here are great a give way at the drop of a hat. We have not had a rude gesture, swearing, or aggressive displays of driving. As I have said before we are traveling on minor country roads but they are smooth and without potholes. You really can have confidence on a bike here. Tomorrow is a relatively short day of 65 or 73 km. The difference being if we cannot do the bridge over the Loire and Bay of Bisgue. We follow the TT ride which you can see on YouTube.
Till tomorrow LATER, Bruce
