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Published: September 6th 2010
So much for a short, flat ride into Montpellier along the Mediterranean coastline. Whilst I did see the sea for a short while, it was unfortunately brief amid 95 miles or so of rather unpleasant roads into a fairly persistant breeze. This won't mean too much to too many, but for about 15 miles or so I was riding with a 34/21 on the flat (and struggling), I think I slightly pulled a muscle in my neck as I was cursing the wind at the top of my voice. On another day it all may have been grand, you can't get lucky all the time I guess. On the plus side, I am about 5 miles ahead of schedule owing to some sort of conference in Montpellier which saw every hotel in town booked out. From what I saw it is a beautiful city, it's a shame I didn't have the presence of mind to get my camera out as I went through.
Tomorrow's forecast is awful. The ridiculously cheery German girl at my hotel's reception seemed to delight in telling me they would have 3 months worth of rain in a day. Ordinarily the prospect of a storm like that would make me quite happy too, however I have 70 odd miles to cover tomorrow and any thoughts of getting up early enough to miss the worst of it appear to have been dashed already. It's chucking it down now!
A good chance to test the resilience of my wet weather gear then, which had it not rained for the entire trip would have seemed unecessary weight to have dragged up all those hills. I guess I should be glad as psychologically that would have been a killer...
One more thing as this post is starting to drag on a bit - I now have a wierd sensation of numbness in my left hand, concentrated mainly on my palm and little finger, possibly from gripping the bars too tight on the climbs. If any physios happen to be reading this, should I be worried?
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James Hyatt
non-member comment
Probably bad physio advice
Hi mate, Sorry about the Toumalet! Sounds like it beat you up a bit but well worth it when its all done! The cross winds sound horrible but the cheery German girl after a bad day on the bike sounds much worse! On the hand front, I had a similar sensation for about 10 days when I get back from Paris ride. It ran from my left forefinger down to my palm and I was quite worried about it both on the ride and off it. However, when I got back I spoke my sisteer (doctor) and a couple of other people and they assured me it is just a trapped nerve and will heal only with time. I was advised to keep the finger moving (not that hard as it is on my hand) and not to worry about it. If its the same thing I'm afraid it will probbaly stay with you for the rest of the ride but it should be do you any harm. (disclaimer: I take no responsiblity for the sudden loss of your hand). Anyway, your through the worst of the ride for sure now (ignore the bad weather). You've done a great job so just keep going, unbelieveable what you've achieved so far so just keep that in mind and keep the wheels turning. In the mean time to keep you going, see this quote from Michael Barry author of Le Metier and long time domestique in numeours tour de france: “In my teens, I found the point where suffering on the bike became pleasure. Pushing myself to physical and mental extremes I arrived home elated. To find the sublime there is a balance where elements of pain and passion become equal: on a bike, pedalling in the environment, a human being can find divinity.” Keep going!