Me on the beach at CerbereIt took a while to wake my body up this morning. Lots of stretching and a generous helping of Simon Lamb's famous Rosso oil seemed to break through the aches and pains that four days of hard riding has left me with.
The final breakfast was a wonderful buffet of cooked meats, cheese and freshly baked croissants, washed down with the most wonderful coffee.
There were other Raiders at the hotel - about 20 in total - some from South Africa others from Ireland. We all wore our euro/pro tan lines with pride (pictured left). Bob and I were keen to get underway and hit the road shortly before 8.30am. We had to be done by 1.30pm to be inside the 100 hours total set out in the rules of the Raid. I set the early pace with Bob tucked in behind me and every 10kms we would swap over. We flashed through pretty Mediterranean villages, all the houses different shades of terracotta, window boxes filled with geraniums, old ladies sweeping their steps and market traders setting up their stalls. Children waved as we shot passed and called "allez, allez" then laughed to their friends.
The road rolled on ahead and our pace never slowed, we were on a mission to burn through the last 94 km and finish with time to spare. Then a small speck caught my eye in the distance. It was black and it bobbed and weaved towards me. I was totally fascinated as it got bigger and bigger. The bee seemed as transfixed by me as I was by it, with our courses locked on a collision. It hit me just above my right cheek and by some weird reaction became wedged in my sunglasses. It buzzed angrily. I panicked and flapped, weaving wildly, trying to free my glasses to release the bee. I felt a sharp pain as the little blighter stung me right below my eyebrow. After much fuss and flapping of hands we were able to continue.
We stopped for water and fresh apricots in Bages then back on the bikes. The traffic got heavier as we approached St Cyprien and headed towards Argeles-sur-Mer. It's the beginning of the French holidays and the cars queued through the towns, so we weaved our way through the foul fuel-filled streets. Once free of the holiday town we started the last climb of our journey, the short but quite steep Cap l'Abeille. It was on this climb that three riders from the group who had shared our hotel caught us, then two others passed us.
We gave chase and the final run in became a sprint for the sleepy village of Cerbere. The first three were just too fast for us but we hauled the other two in and shot down the hill to the finish line.
There was no fanfare, no dancing girls, no loved ones to share this moment. I could feel the anticlimax sweep over me as I shook Bob's hand on the seafront. Two old French men in caps and wearing swimming trunks stopped me and one of them said something to me in very fast French. I didn't understand so I said that I was English and he replied in excellent English: "Have you come from Hendaye?". I replied that I had. "Over how many days", he asked. "Four and a half," I answered. He turned to his friend and reeled off the translation. His friend looked at me and grabbed my shoulder and said "chapeau!". I almost cried. Here were two strangers who were excited and full of congratulations after hearing about my achievement. My feeling of anticlimax vanished instantly. France and the French love cycling and cycling endeavours, no matter what your ability. They recognise the personal effort and sacrifice that you've made to make the journey.
There was no fanfare, no dancing girls, no loved ones to share this moment. I could feel the anticlimax sweep over me as I shook Bob's hand on the seafront. Two old French men in caps and wearing swimming trunks stopped me and one of them said something to me in very fast French. I didn't understand so I said that I was English and he replied in excellent English: "Have you come from Hendaye?". I replied that I had. "Over how many days", he asked. "Four and a half," I answered. He turned to his friend and reeled off the translation. His friend looked at me and grabbed my shoulder and said "chapeau!". I almost cried. Here were two strangers who were excited and full of congratulations after hearing about my achievement. My feeling of anticlimax vanished instantly. France and the French love cycling and cycling endeavours, no matter what your ability. They recognise the personal effort and sacrifice that you've made to make the journey.
The End: Me, Nick and Bob
DAY 5 STATISTICS
Distance 94km
Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Max speed 60kph
Avg speed 29kph
Ascent 549m
Calories 2568
Well done mate. Great effort.
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