John and Craig had been put in a different hotel last night (the organisers looked surprised when we were unhappy about this – it hadn’t occurred to them that we might want to spend the evening with the people we had chosen to do the ride with….). This meant they had a few miles to ride to get to us and the start of the route in the morning.
After our briefing (ride on the right!) we set off into northern France. There was a strong headwind and the weather looked good.
The countryside was beautiful, the roads were quiet and the tarmac was smooth – totally different from leaving London yesterday. Our backsides were not what they were yesterday morning though – a bit of stiffness throughout our little group!
The day brightened up and our team split into two Groups - from here on known as “Team A” – (John, Craig and me) and “Team B” – (Derek, Abby and Stu), I leave it to the reader to decide which team was faster, fitter and just better looking….
I explained drafting and how to ride “through and off” to Craig and John. They quickly picked it up and our average speed increased as we formed up into a single file line. The front man does the work while the others get pulled along in his slipstream. When the front man is tired he moves off to one side and the second man comes through to the front and starts his turn pulling. The man who has come off then slots in at the back of the group until it is his turn to move through to the front again and so on.
Riding through and off requires concentration and communication as the closer you are to the person in front, the better the drafting effect, the front man has to avoid sudden braking or swerving as the others in “the line” will quickly pile into the back of him. Riding like this you can cover distance far quicker than a single rider, or a disorganised group.
Although the water stops were well placed and well stocked, they didn’t quite meet our expectations for fine French fare.............(see below)
Luckily, John knew this part of France and took us slightly off-route to a town called Montreuil for lunch at a café in the town square – omelette and chips all round with a good bottle of Muscadet. When we arrived at the actual lunch stop they were packing up – they were very relieved to see us as the back marker had already arrived and they thought we were lost (perhaps going off route without telling them was not our best move…)
After lunch Team A explained “through and off” to Team B who also got the hang of it and we made great progress towards the final water stop of the day. The weather had been good until now but dark clouds were gathering and I doubted we would make it before the heavens opened.
As the rain started I got my first puncture, the team went on while I fixed it. I rode hard to catch them up, but after about 5 miles I still hadn’t caught up – maybe they really had got the hang of through and off….After 10 miles I knew something was wrong – still no sign of them. The route was pretty well signposted by the guides - only an idiot (or 5) could miss them?
but somehow the team had gone wrong. After several phonecalls and retracing of steps they were back on route and we headed for Abbeville, by now it was raining hard. I got my second puncture and realised that my tires were past their best. Luckily there was a sports store on the outskirts of Abbeville and I picked up some new ones.
The hotel was another out-of-town clone from the Holiday Inn – we decided that getting a taxi into town was the better option. Luckily our taxi driver was not a fan of the health and safety police so taking six in his taxi was no problem, he also recommended a great restaurant – the food was superb and we rewarded ourselves for reaching the halfway point with several bottles of Premier Cru Burgundy…
Day two was over, 75 miles and about a 1000m of climbing
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