I am sitting in the hotel in Bingen trying to catch up with the blogs, and for the first time I am up to date, also for the the first time since the ferry crossing we are back on schedule after a great days ride along the Rhine on mainly very easy paths.
We headed out at our normal time of 11am and soon crossed over to the west side of the Rhine at Linz. We lunched in Koblenz after 50k of easy riding, everyone felt good so we thought we would push on and see how far we could get. Today was the first day that everyone was on top cycling form, no aches or pains and everyone had found their cycling legs after a week on the road. After Koblenz, there was an un surfaced path, followed by some 'Pave', but for most of the rest of the day the path mainly followed the road and was a very good surface. This section is also the prettiest section of the Rhine with loads of precariously located vineyards and 'Schloss or castles' at nearly every bend on the river. After an ice cream in St Goar we decided to ride the last 27k to Bingen. The children formed a peloton and shot off, while Paula and I cruised behind enjoying the views.
They waited for us with about 12 k to go and while I had some more food, Paula headed off to provide a target for the last of the days sprints! The 5 of us formed a peloton and chased her down. When we saw her in the distance Kate immediately attacked, we let her go and tried to set up Sarah to catch her. Our plan was looking good until Sarah over shot a corner skidding to a halt in the gravel and ruining her chances of victory.
Just as Kate caught Paula, Kate punctured. It was our first puncture of the trip, after 500 miles which is 3000 between us we could not complain. We arrived in Bingen at 8.45pm and after showering headed over the road for a pizza. The owner was an extrovert Italian and soon had Rachel making pizzas before performing some quite impressive magic tricks at our table. A great end to a great day
Today's Stats
Distance 119.4k
Time 5.42.11
Average Speed 20.9kph (highest so far)
Climb 242m
Total distance 916k
Glad it's going well. I am enjoying your blog a lot & being able to experience your epic ride with you. Obviously it's the only way I could possibly do it!! Keep pedalling!!
ReplyDeleteSo ....im puzzling, without me.....who fixed the puncture.....Im assuming Kate still has it ?!
ReplyDeleteChris fixed it!!
DeleteHi Brendan, Paula, Chris, Rachel, Sarah, Kate
ReplyDeleteI have finally managed to get around to leaving you all a comment, having followed your amazing adventures since returning from the Lake District earlier in the week. It is really impressive the distances you are covering each day, and the consistency in average speed is even more impressive. Although Brendan, there were no daily stats for day 9! It looks like you lost the end of your post!
If you haven't seen the results from up north, all went pretty well, but again like 2010 my race schedule was a bit too ambitious. But the super fast start paid of again, and the youngsters were left behind. Wisdom definitely out does youth. Pass that message onto your young family!
Here is a link to my brief race report:
http://ultrastu.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/montane-lakeland-100-initial-brief-race.html
A full race report to follow, hopefully this weekend.
All the best with the cycling.
Stuart
Hi Stu. Congratulations on winning the lakeland 100 again. And to win by 45mins is even more impressive. Whenever the children are struggling I remind them of you running 105miles in a day.
DeleteStats for day 9 have been added.
Cheers, Brendan