Today we suffered our first mecahnical casualty. Fribbo’s
chain snapped 20 miles into the days ride, just a few hundred metres from what
was a stunning 6%, 3km, switchbacking decscent into town. Fortunately, after
much mocking and tears in the van, Steve compassionately drove back to the top
and let the chainless Fribbo free wheel to the bottom.
The morning started well. Some long miles of climbing out of
Brive swiftly transitioned into tarmac-come-gravel single lane back roads which
then transitioned into some amazing MTB single track – which isn’t much fun on
23mm tyres at 120PSI. We came through though and eventually found our way back
onto the main road. A few miles of steady pace later and Fribbo had his
incident. Despite the group’s best attempts at fixing the chain, it was too
far-gone and so David’s day came to an early end once more.
The rest of the gang continued onward and upward
(literally). More energy sapping climbs,
some headwinds (that always remained headwinds regardless of the direction
being travelled) and blue skies ensured this was a day that felt every yard of
the 70 or so miles.
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