Heading for the coast, and rest day and the halfway mark

With the halfway point of the Cent Cols Challenge reached, today was a super tough 207km route from the ski resort of Valberg and wended its way over a handful of mightily tough cols before we reached the coast and the first sight of the sea from the height of the surrounding hills. We headed West and soon skirted around the edges of the millionaires playground Monaco and then flying down into the bustly Nice, a shock after spending four days in mostly rural France. A short hop and skip and all 36 riders had (though not all under their own steam) rolled into Carros, our stop for the next two nights as the one rest day of the challenge was upon us.

We’ve been through the entire gamut of weather conditions thus far. Snow early on causing the cancellation of several cols (Galibier and Iozard) plus a healthy dose of rain intermingled with some glorious sunshine. Today was a different matter. Rain was forecast for the afternoon following a morning of sunshine but the heavens would open sooner than expected, catching us all off-guard. With the Rapha Rainjacket pulled on and zipped up, the 1000m Col de Turini to the lunch stop was a slow but steady grind with the sound of water pummelling the sleeves of the jacket and bouncing off the helmet, drenching my riding kit right through.

What followed after lunch was the most miserable and energy sapping descent of the entire challenge. In the dry the curvaceous road would have been nothing but enjoyable, but the pouring rain and the plummeting temperature made it not only dangerous but treacherous too. Fingers began to freeze and turn visibly white as the body struggled to cope, while the core temperature dropped significantly. Normally I wouldn’t wish a descent to end quickly but on this occasion I wasn’t more glad to reach the bottom and begin some steady pedalling to bring the body’s temperate back up to normal range.

We’re now at the halfway point with 50 cols of our 100 target successfully ticked off the list. They haven’t been without their casualties, several riders have been forced out of action due to serious knee complaints and this sore and tired rider isn’t that far behind. Suffering a bit with a sore right knee, the pain from that strain was offset today by the sudden uprising of severe pain in the muscle directly behind the left knee. This rest day hasn’t come soon enough, and should hopefully allow enough time to recover before the Ventoux onslaught. A massage tomorrow should aid the recovery, I hope.