TCRN07 Day 13: Moulins – Trees near Tubilly

08/08/19

197.52 Miles

13:53:42 hrs Moving Time

5,026 ft Gained

14.2 mph Average Speed

This morning was the first morning I knew I was going to make it to the finish. Barring any major disaster out of my control, this was the home straight, be it the 450 mile home straight.

The finish line had never really occurred to me before this moment, apart from hearing of other riders finishing, I didn’t relate that to me reaching the finish line, I didn’t even let it enter my thoughts. Once you do, thats all you can think about, the end. I reckoned I was close enough now to let it linger in the back of my head for a while, letting it drop into the forefront of my mind bit by bit, the closer I got.

Making calculations when I set off, I had around 450 miles to go. I did for a millisecond think about attempting to do it in one, but that was never going to happen. The furthest I had ridden in one go was just over 300 miles and that wasn’t pretty. So, I planned to take 2 days and finish late tomorrow or early the following morning. If I managed to do that, it would keep my race time under 14 days, I just had to make it to the finish line by 6am on the 10th August. This was achievable, I thought.

Most of the riding was rolling French countryside, fields and fields, small villages with no one about and the odd tractor. This was the most exciting sight of the morning…

With all this time with my own head, my thoughts went all over the place. The finish, obviously, but the journey so far and how it had went. There had only been a few parts I hadn’t enjoyed, they involved busy roads and close passes of cars and lorries, but mostly it had been an amazing experience. Even the dog chases, to some extent.

On long solo rides like this, I also sometimes just clear my mind while pedalling along. I take out the headphones and unconsciously start think about nothing (is that possible). I have tried meditation and I am just slightly too impatient for it, but cycling along a quiet flat road, sometimes this state just creeps up on me. I only notice it has happened when a car passes by or something distracts me, then I am out of it. Im not sure know how long I have been in this state for, but it feels good. I am fully aware of everything that is is going on around me and for sure I am safe cycling, but its acts as a sort of refresh. Then I am away back to my usual highly intellectual thoughts of how many baguettes I can eat in one go at the next petrol station and if that tree is covered enough for me to pee behind.

It was too hot today!

I thought about hiding from the midday sun with a snooze, but I knew it was too hot for me to do that and the breeze while riding along was much cooler than lying down in the heat.

Early afternoon, the heat was too much, so I detoured into Saint-Aignan in search of something cold. I went into a bar, ordered a coke and raided the ice cream freezer. This is where I discovered the Ice Tea Ice Pop. Exactly what my body needed. I got 3. One to eat and 2 to put under my knees to cool down while I ate the first one. Then finish the other 2 of course. This 10 minute rest or so wasnt much, but did wonders when I started to cycle again and I felt refreshed.

Entering the outskirts of Tours the roads started to get busier and tiredness had definitely overtaken my body from nearly two weeks of little sleep. My route was telling me to take the motorway into Tours, this was not allowed, so I tried to change it by the side of the road, but the traffic and everything was getting to me, so I found the nearest fast food place, stocked up and replanned my route for the rest of the day.

I then managed to get through Tours reasonably well and out the other side. At around the 200 mile mark there weren’t any major towns/cities and with the weather looking reasonable for the night, until the forecasted downpour at 5am, I decided to head for the forest.

After a few hours riding in the dark, I started looking for somewhere good to camp. With this level of tiredness, everywhere looked appealing, so after a few failed attempts at finding somewhere idyllic, I hurled my bike over a fence and threw my bivvy bag onto the ground and set my alarm for 4, which would give me a good 5 hour sleep, ready to tackle the last 250 mile to the finish.

When all snug in my bivvy, I checked the forecast for the next day in Brest, where the race was finishing, This is what it told me…

58mph winds, this could be an interesting finish.