We reach the Med!

An 'easier' day today, 60 miles with just 5,000ft of ascent, taking in 4 cols and finally arriving here at St Cyprien Plage on a windswept afternoon with torrential rain (of which more later). Last night's hotel had 3 cycling groups in so things were a bit manic at breakfast. Having managed a modest amount of food last night I was then awake most of the night with stomach cramps as my stomach tried to decide what to do with this unexpected invasion. Just a small amount for breakfast all round, but the sickness has stopped and no doubt by the time we get home all will be back to normal.

We decided to ride with the main group for most of the day as the navigation got progressively more tricky as we approached the coast. Thunderstorms were forecast for the early afternoon and if we had been on our own we might have just made a dash for it - but of course the chances are we would still be out there trying to find the place. The first climb of the day was the only really major one, but it did go on for ages and there were a lot of tired legs in the group, partly due to illness, partly due to the cumulative effect of 11 days hard riding (plus the previous 900 miles in our case). Plenty of photo stops to get a breather, but it was dull and overcast so the shots were a bit ordinary. Several amazing hill villages on route that I can't see the Tesco wagon wanting to deliver to. 

Over the first three cols and our leader made a run for the little village of Oms, where there is a shop/ cafe open until midday only. She arrived just before they shut and, with considerable difficulty, managed to persuade them to stay open until the rest of us arrived. This place was hilarious, no matter what you ordered you received Cafe au Lait, and since they only had 4 cups and there were 16 of us this was a slow process. A few people just had a soft drink to speed things up. For each cup they boiled the coffee and milk together (one cupful) and the shuffled out and poured the coffee from the saucepan into your cup at the table. We can only assume that they don't often have customers.... Anyway we were obviously getting in the way of the obligatory 4 hour lunch break and were unceremoniously thrown out!

Over the last col, which was so insignificant that it didn't even have a sign and then the run in to the sea, using a network of minor roads, which would have been virtually impossible to follow on our own. About 1 mile from the hotel, as we rode along the seafront, the heavens opened to give us the first rain since we paddled in the Atlantic back at the start of the Pyrennean section of our trip. We were trying to get to the hotel without waterproofs when one of the riders went down, his bike skidding out on a white line (greasy after loads of dry weather and then rain). No sooner had we started again than a second chap went down for the same reason, just a different white line. Finally got here more or less in one piece, but any idea of a paddle in the Med has been forgotten as the rain has poured down ever since and the road outside is flooded.

After final celebratory meal tonight we go our separate ways, although about half of us are travelling back on the bike bus from Perpignan tomorrow. As this will take the best part of a day I plan to write some closing thoughts about this, that and the French approach to shower technology (I mean really how hard can it be???)

Pictures include three of the cols today, a view of the Med from our window, some views and the team relaxing as they catch up with the Archers omnibus edition!