Cycle Tour

I thought I knew hills…..

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Last night I picked up Mrs Rouleurs uncles mountain bike to use for a couple of days for one or two ‘I O U’ rides.

The Roly Rouleur and his future Rainbow jersey winner.

The Roly Rouleur and his future Rainbow jersey winner.

Tires pumped and saddle lowered (Uncle Rouleur is at least 6ft 5in, I am 5ft 9in!), I started to plan my route. From my In-Laws I planned a ride along a gravel path and then up into the Harz mountains, heading for the Josefkreuz (a large iron cross that you can climb, that itself sits at the top of a mountain!), and then back via a lovely winding descent down a mountain road, 25-30k all told and not a bad little ride.

I thought perhaps 2 hours in total and so took just a little water bottle and one gel, and with the words ‘it will be a walk in the park’ ringing in Mrs Rouleurs ears I set off.

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Day 6 and 7 – Reflections

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So its been a little over 48 hours since I arrived at the Rouleur-in-laws after having to call time on the first and toughest of my cycle challenges due to injuries to my fellow Roly.

On arrival there was predominantly a huge amount of guilt to reason with, but added to the mix was a dash of anger, a spoonful of pain and a whole heap of frustrations, which overall meant, that like a cheese that had been out of the fridge too long I was pretty stinky (metaphorically of course).

Of course no option really existed other than to abandon given the injuries my colleague suffered (I am still waiting on the finding of the Doctors report but wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he is now a Eunuch!) but it was still hard to accept.

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Day 4 and 5 – Devastation

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This has been the hardest blog to write so far, but unfortunately the ride was over before we had left Belgium yesterday.

I know some of you have been contacting me to see if everything is OK and I am sorry for not having responded so far but I will explain all.

As you will know from reading this blog for the last few days the ride has not been without incident, and it is one such of these that has ended the ride early.

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Day 3 – Cobbles, Hills and Buckled Wheels

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Good afternoon to all,

So here we are still in Belgium but closing in on both the Netherlands and Germany where we should end up in tomorrow.

Todays stats, 70 miles, 2.5km of Cobbles, four buckled wheels, and a cycle path that my good friend described with an unbroken five minute expletive filled rant.

My fellow Roly started the day (and ended the day yesterday) with both wheels severely buckled, so much so he was basically riding with the break on for 20km. Oh and a drunk past out on the concrete in front of him where his wonderful bedside manner came in to play (tongue firmly in cheek), he did put him in the recovery position and slapped him until he woke back up.

This morning was spent trying to align this and a quick fix was completed, he still had to leave the back break open though! And away we go.

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Day One – Hills, Wind and more Hills

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100 miles and 6400 feet of climbing, that’s how I spent my day and I can think of oh so many better ways to spend it……..

Today was hard, very hard and if I am honest a lot harder than I had anticipated. I knew there were hills but frankly it feels like all we have done today was climb (obviously not as much as the men of the tour but hey I am Roly!!!).

Oh and did I mention the head wind!!

But Day One is over and we are now tucked up in a B and B in Dover, I know I know, I said we would camp but I think we earned a little comfort tonight.

Now just waiting on a bit of dinner and then a very early night!!

In conclusion (and sorry it is short and sweet) Tired? Check. Hungry? Check. Nervous for tomorrow? Check. But just a little bit Proud too!!

Check out http://www.justgiving.com/Philip-keel.com if you would like to sponsor me for this challenge for the incredible Shooting Star Chase.

Until tomorrow! Good Night.