"After a hearty meal the night before of L'Escargots and Veal and a little more red medicine we slept like lions in our noisy little Hotel. I was awoken by my bicycle friend and asked him how he was feeling and he replied "fantastic". My heart dropped and thought how on earth that could be as getting out of bed this morning was a real trial.

Anyway, after ploughing through endless baguettes and croissants we “carbed up” and were off straight up a treacherous hill on the start of a big day.

At this point I need to make another thank you to Chris Oates my long suffering Secretary who has done sterling work with hotels and a clever little laminated mapping system that we have stuck to the front of our bikes - who needs modern Sat Nav? Our little laminated maps have flown off only a few times from our chariots and so nice to tour France the old fashioned way rather than somebody telling you you have gone the wrong way. Also many thanks to R K Harrison for their most generous sponsorship and support -by the way they REALLY are the best Insurance Broker in the Universe.

“OUCH I THINK I’VE JUST POPPED ONE OF MY GRAPES!”

Anyway whoever said Normandy was flat should be shot. Hill after hill after hill greeted us today. We covered 115km and ascended 1700 meters. The sun shone for us and we got lost a few times which was actually perfect as we weaved our way through narrow country lanes admiring the exceptional beauty of the countryside and the peace of French life. The French are a funny lot. Trying to find anything open between 12-4pm is a real challenge and we were very lucky to find a very small cafe for lunch today in a remote area between Vire and Fougieres at a point when we were feeling a little wobbly.

The forecast for tomorrow is fairly dire with showers and storms but hey, what's a bit of water!

So far, so good. We both feel great save for a few sores appearing places I never thought possible and a touch of cramp today. The French roads are truly joyous and their respect of the bicycle is clearly apparent as endless trucks gave us a wide respectful berth (no doubt laughing in the process at these two wobbly Brits).

Next update will be on Monday – with a triple blog!!!

Vive La France!"

Justin

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