Well, after two days of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Le Tour Challenge, we’ve finished Stage 15. Total ride time for me was a nudge under nine hours at a fairly pitiful average speed of 14 miles an hour. It probably would’ve been lower but for the blisteringly fast descent off of the Port de Balès – more about that later.

Day one was a really enjoyable ride, but nothing more than a stretch of the legs and warm up over the undulating countryside between Pamiers and St Giron – I guess that part of the stage would’ve taken the pros little more than an hour and a half or so. We did get the chance to open up the throttle on a not too steep but long descent into St Giron, but we were all done and dusted by early afternoon.

This is supposed to be a challenge, I hear you say. We all knew that day two was when the serious business was going to start, and it didn’t disappoint. We rolled out of St Giron under thick cloud this morning, which kept off the glaring Pyrenean sun, but didn’t really make it any cooler. Over dinner last night, Matt and Fraser, my two riding buddies, and I all agreed that the order of the day was to start slowly and take it very easy over the Portet d’Aspet and Col des Ares to ensure we didn’t overcook it before the Port de Balès.

A very welcome fine rain ensured a cool climb for all up the Portet d’Aspet and a very greasy and nervous descent down the other side. Pausing at the Casartelli memorial, we were all reminded of the harsh reality of what can happen if your descending doesn’t go according to plan. With respects paid, we made our way gingerly but safely to the bottom.

My teammate Andrew would probably say that the scariest thing about the Col des Ares is the angry restauranteur in the cafe at the summit. Unlike most of the French population, he clearly doesn’t like cyclist stopping anywhere near his fine establishment and even if you hide yourself in a bush some way down the road, answering a call of nature is not acceptable either!

Topped up on bananas, gels etc, we were fairly speedily back down in the valley to begin the main business of the day, the climb of the Port de Balès. I’ve always found those signs at the side of climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees quite useful. Knowing what sort of gradient you’re going to encounter of the next kilometre is a good thing – that is until they blatantly lie! After riding steadily together up the first seven kilometres, Fraser and I both agreed that whoever worked out the data for the signs from about 10k to go was clearly “having a laugh”! Admittedly it is supposed to show the ‘average’ gradient, but the Garmin reckoned on several leg-bustingly long sections of between 12 and 14 percent.

By this point the morning’s cloud had burnt off and the dial had been turned to ‘high cook’ for the final few kilometres. I knew that I had got my eating right this time. I’d been eating huge meals, drinking throughout the ride and keeping topped up with gels before feeling I needed them. In spite of this, it is quite astonishing how hard it had become to turn the 34-25 gear that is normally such a granny spinner on lesser climbs. I was virtually doing track stands, but not because I was trying to fox my opponent in a Schleck-Contador stylee!

Just under four kilometres to go and I rounded a right hand bend, left the shelter of the trees for the last time and was faced with one of the most awesome mountain landscapes I have ever seen. If I’d had any breath left it would’ve taken it! Equally welcome was the fact that the road flattened out significantly at this point as well. I rode past the point where I am fairly sure Schleck lost his chain – mine stayed on, so I clearly wasn’t as angry as he was over the last two kilometres and therefore took it a little slower.

I’ve had some tough days on the bike in the past and this was up there with the best of them. The feeling of relief and achievement at the top was immense. After the mandatory snaps under the col sign, we zipped up and set off over the edge to begin a magical descent, lightning quick and relatively free of traffic. Guide Dog Tour veteran Mac Messenger was filming us with the head cam. Now Mac can really shift when he wants to. So I tried my best to take each corner at speed for the full 12 miles down into Luchon. Despite my best efforts, Mac had a lot of tips to offer when we watched the video over dinner tonight – he holds the Tour speed record at 60+mph incidentally. It’s all in jest though, so thanks Mac!

And that was Stage 1. Tomorrow we begin the part 1 of stage 16 and shake hands with the Tourmalet for the first time, with the added pleasure of the Peyresourde and Aspin to warm us up beforehand. It’s been every bit as hard as I expected so far, but I’m still here and loving every minute of it – even if there were moments of sheer hell on the Port de Balès.

Chris would be pleased to receive online donations in support of his Guide Dogs challenge at  www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Williams2