L2P Journal: Day Three

Today was the longest day, a full 124.6 125 km, and our first day cycling in the French Republic following a transition day on the ferry. 
A choppy ride made the journey long, at times nauseating and shaky to say the least. However it was the 18th Birthday of one Team Froome member, Master Mister Jack Bennett. So happy birthday to him. Anyway...
We began today in a hotel F1 (Formula "unn"), renowned for their distinct lack of quality and facilities, stripped bare of any luxuries- like McLaren Honda!
We then headed to the docks at Dieppe and departed swiftly after, and one thing was instantly noticeable. The surface.
I could wax lyrical about the smooth, divine Tarmac, weaving elegantly through the green and pleasant land that isn't Jerusalem. 
In the allegedly United Kingdom, the terrain varied from pothole infested roads to gravel to large stones. On a road bike on road tyres, I was paranoid throughout.
Yet in a nation which cares about the bicycle, having devoted cycle lanes with smooth Tarmac and a dedicated path to the Avenue Verte was bliss. Yet it didn't stop us getting 4 punctures!
Progress was strong and we were evenly matched as a group and even got along after 3 draining days on the saddle. Ozymandias would be weeping at the thought of such good feeling!
Sadly however, a combination of various things forced us to wait at a checkpoint far longer than desired.
  • Firstly, we forgot to plan checkpoints the previous evening meaning that by the time they had been devised, we had already gone past them.
  • This led to a vehicular scramble to try and reach us, resulting in much stress and tension.
  • The starts weren't sufficiently staggered meaning the faster groups overtook the slower groups early on, meaning they spread out rapidly despite the punctured and falls.
This tension boiled and it resulted in a mutual understanding to plan checkpoints tonight ahead of tomorrow and be more prepared tomorrow morning for a similarly long day - another thing unaccounted for when predicting time gaps.
So that is why I'm very happy to confirm that as I'm writing tomorrow is being better planned and with 5 vehicles and 3 checkpoints I carry much faith. In addition I believe that with more staggered starts of at least 30 minutes, we can amalgamate much closer to
Paris  we shall approach the eponymous cathedral named in 'our lady's' honour. It will be a special moment and I genuinely can't wait, even if my buttocks could!

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