Actual Mileage: 89.66 miles
Temperature: 16.5C
Top Speed: 32.9 mph (15.2mph average for the day)
Start Time: 08:05am
End Time: 16:10pm
Total Saddle Time: 8hr 05mins
The team were up bright and early following their rest day, with the exception of Simon, which is nothing unusual. However on previous days he had been blaming Paul for hogging the bathroom as the reason for his lateness; except he was not sharing with Paul on this occasion so one can only assume that he cannot drag himself away from the mirror. In fact, his wife, Tracey confirmed to us that he actually has a portable mirror that he carries around with him!!
Two new riders joined us from Paris - Dylan & Shelley - so good luck to them for the remainder of the journey, and we said goodbye to Russell who needed to return back to the UK for business reasons after being a brilliant team rider for the last 10 days.
Less than a mile into the journey, we were startled by a gunshot type sound. Dave had a puncture which forced his trye away from the rim. Russell had pumped up Dave's tyres that morning so the team are left wondering if he had over inflated it on purpose.
Going out of Paris, the roads were very busy and it was not easy to sit behind the team and follow them so I drove ahead and waited for them. whilst I was waiting, I was visited by some French soldiers - they pulled up alongside my car and questioned me. I did not have a clue what they were saying so they got a colleague who could speak English. Turns out they wanted to know what the camera was for which was attached to the front of my car - as I was parked up at the perimeter of an airport I can understand this line of questioning. After convincing them I was not a terrorist, and the fact the cyclists managed to catch up with me, I was allowed to continue on my way.
After 18 miles, Spike had a puncture but the team carried on without him so he ended up in the van to catch the rest of them up. However, the rain then came down so he stayed in the van for the next 10 miles whilst everyone else was getting soaked. After 38 miles, Anthony also had a puncture.
Quote from the Wives: "Oh no, that is the only, masculine thing about him" - Tracey Voris when asked if she wanted Simon to shave his legs.
After 63 miles, we had a lunch break, and for Gavin he required a change of peddles due to broken cleats.
After lunch we headed into Saint Quentin which is famous for being twinned with Rotherham. They must be so proud! On this stretch, the team counted 3 lots of roadkill - 2 cats and a badger!
On reaching the hotel, 'Arrrhhhh Kid' was waiting for Dave to give him and the team some support. After a quick change, freshen up of both humans and bikes, it was off to a local bar from some well earned food and refreshments.
Tomorrow sees us leave France and head into Belgium, where we will be visiting the Zaventem office. It is a 100 mile journey, which could be quite a test for the newbies.
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