Today really was a day for ‘active recovery’! The real Tour follows a route from Rodez to Revel that covers 196km, but the last part is a loop on a big motorway. Not having the roads closed for us, and already being well in credit for additional kilometres our route was shortened to lose the loop and finish at 145km. Great news!
The stage was again hilly for the first half of the route (but nothing serious) before plunging down into the Tarn valley for a more rolling section to be negotiated.
Again, the countryside was fabulous and we passed through some picturesque villages, such as Senaux, along the way.
It was again an absolutely roasting day, and several of the ‘day trippers’ (people only out for a couple of stages, and often not fully prepared for the intensity of the days) found themselves dehydrated or suffering from heat exhaustion pretty early in the day. A few jumped in the van...
As we did yesterday Williams and I took it very easy with one eye on the next three days of punishment. We were really just out for a ‘walk on the bike’ keeping the heart rate right down. I like my stats and my heart rate seems to be staying a lot lower on average and I have found the last few days relatively easy. Strange when 145km on a bike over some decent hills no longer troubles you. That said, the next 72 hours are going to really deal out some pain...!
We arrived at our hotel in Soreze, a gorgeous old monastery, at a very respectable time finally allowing some free time to relax.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the end; the Tour arrives in the Pyrenees!
Blogs are likely to become shorter or be saved for the rest day over the coming evenings.
S
Time: 6hrs 25mins
Distance: 141.6km
Av Speed: 22.1km/h
Total Ascent: 1542m
Av HR: 108bpm
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