Blistering heat, blistering rear end!

....38 degree's again, very very long day, we cut the end short by 30km to make up for the additional km's yesterday and to avoid a potentially long stop start drag into town, as into Montpellier. Stop over is in Albi which is a beautiful town, as is the whole of Languedoc, stunning scenery, beautiful cycling country and beautiful towns. Penzenas is definitely a destination next time round.


38 degree's in the sun!

The ride towards the first climbs of the day was made tougher by the heat and the constant head wind, stopping in small towns to re-fill water bottles and to sneak the odd few ice lollies (avoiding 
the temptation for local ice cream!) and stopping at times just to get off the bike and into the shade, trust me, it was needed.

We know it's the right road!

The blistering heat and headwind was just the same as yesterday on Stage 6, the Cat 2 climb over Col de la Croix de Mounis just after mid day was tough, really tough, no shade at all, not once in 27km. The next climb over Cote de la Quintane was different, later in the afternoon but still just a hot, but shrouded by trees virtually the entire climb, what a difference, what a relief.

A quick stop for cold drinks, water and a bite to eat (turned out that the only shop/ cafe in town was serving anything you wanted as long as it was a roasted leg of duck or tabouleh, quite fortunate given that one of the Ride 21 crew is vegetrian. A leg of duck seemed a little odd but the protein intake was greatly appreciated. The combination of extreme heat and very long hours in the saddle are already having an effect on the rear end, a growing number of blisters are now being treated by copious amounts of chamoise cream and two layers of bib shorts, a case of persevering in extreme pain!

Got some great views of roadside decorations in place for the Tour, every region and every town seems to have its own creativity and 'unique' ideas, may be next year there should be an 'off the road' Blog of all roadside Tour decorations. 

4 jersey's!

The road closure signs for the Tour were still out, although it's now two or three days up the road, seems like the locals leave the signs out to keep the roads free of traffic, it is Sunday but incredibly quiet on the roads. 

Onto Stage 8 tomorrow, probably the toughest stage so far, a long ride in the morning towards two brutally tough climbs at the end, HC Col de Pailheres and a mountain top finish on the Cat 1Ax 3 Domaines, weather forecast, you guessed it, just the same!!!!

More tomorrow, from the  rider and crew of Ride 21, supporting Action Medical Research.

www.action.org.uk/tourdefrance

Twitter @chrisarmishaw

ps. Happy Birthday to Sarah Armishaw tomorrow, 14 years old, have a great day, lots of love x

ps2. Two layers of bib shorts tomorrow to protect blistering rear end, no more detail needed!