Setting off today we felt that we have reached our first milestone. France has been conquered, support team 1 have left, support team 2 of Greg and Helen Hannon have joined team A2A and our second week of cycling was about to commence. We were all feeling rejuvenated after a day off in the wonderful Biarritz (of which we definitely took full advantage!)
The first hour of cycling was our was last on French soil. We cycled south out of Biarritz taking in our last sightings of the sea for a few weeks and entered the foothills of the Pyrenees. As it was a Sunday morning there was a vast number of cyclists on the road, most of whom were extremely unfriendly! We stopped for our last pan au chocolate of the tour before we took down our first of two cols for the day. We climbed our first col of the Pyrenees with ease listening to tunes and reminiscing about Pauley P and our time tackling the French Alps. Most people have the common conception that most cyclists come off their bikes descending at high speeds, however Rob defies this. As we ascended the col at crawling pace Rob somehow managed to topple off the bike (not the first time this has happened him), seconds before our support team drove round the corner. We stood sheepishly as we explained that we were just having a break so as not to worry support team 2 on their first day of tour!
As we crossed the the quiet border in to Spain we noticed the contrast in landscape almost immediately. Lunch today was our first in Spain just over the border by a beautiful river. Our town of choice left much to be desired! As we sat eating lunch we all agreed that this town was home an institution so we didn't hang around for too long!
The afternoon saw us tackle another monstrous col. We launched an attack on two members of Biarritz cycling club, cruising past them with great delight. The descent was lovely with long sweeping bends allowing FJ to try and notch up a new max speed! As we travelled through the lazy Spanish towns we established a few things- the Spanish economy is not doing anything to help itself by closing everything on Sundays; Spanish drivers are not quite as tolerant of cyclists as the French drivers and the Spanish road signs provide brief entertainment as we pass them.
We strolled into the campsite early in the afternoon, allowing us to clean our chariots and have some down time.
Greg and Marcus took a trip into Pamplona- the location on the famous running of the bulls, and walked the route! On their way back they had a run in with the Policia, due to some illegal driving incident. The Spanish cops are not a force to be reckoned with!
Today's distance: 68 miles
Average speed: 13.6 mph
Top speed: 46 mph
Time on bike: 5:45 mins
Total Distance; 648 miles
Max heart rate: 85% (169 bpm)
Average heart rate: 68% (136 bpm)
Calories burnt: 3800
- @Access2a
- www.access2africa.co.uk
Location:Avenida de la Playa,Logroño,Spain
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