A wee look at the telemetory told us a hill at 13, 43, 50, 52, 55 and 57 miles. Mostly spikes which indicate steep hills to get over. After a few tuts about the hills, a quick photoshoot in the car park of the hotel and we were off on our 60 miler date to meet the ladies.
Another beautiful sunny day lay ahead as we left Frejus and cycled along the coast. Today’s route still had some hills in it and one of them in particular looked like a needle on our hill chart which only meant one thing – incredibly steep and the ‘granny gear’ would have to be applied.
Our initial route took us along the D559 through St Raphael and onto the D6098 to Cannes through magnificent coastline and some amazing orange hills.
I couldn't believe it - my right knee was giving me excruciating pain on this last day - just as well it was the last day! I had to say to the team just go at your own pace and I will eventually catch up with them. However, when I did it seemed more prudent just to carry on because there seemed to be less pain if I just kept cycling (it didn’t take long before the rest of them caught up and overtook again!).
This was more due to me seeing and stopping for a picture of the beautiful bay in the distance.
As I was on my own at this point I asked a group of tourists to take a photo of me and then they asked where I was cycling to - I said from Edinburgh to Monte Carlo. Their reply was 'Sorry.... say that again?', 'Edinburgh to Monte Carlo' I replied. There was a slight delay before they said 'You have got to be joking?' and I replied, 'No, but I must dash, got to catch up with the rest of the team, nice to meet you, cheerio!' and off I went.....
However during this time a few Ibruprofen had been taken but I would have to wait a few hours before this would ‘kick in’ so to speak.
Further on we stopped for a morning coffee and a juice for the bairn (me).
We were now approaching Cannes and there was no doubt in the increase in traffic for sure...
As we reached the centre we were expecting the ‘Red Carpet’ and sure enough it was there but to be honest I don’t think any of us were impressed with the concrete stair leading up to an uninspiring building. Phil commented that it reminded him of the 'Jack Kane Centre' in Edinburgh. However, I do believe there were stairs around the side of the building which may have been the official entrance but who knows. Took a picture anyway just for the record.
We carried on regardless and headed towards Antibes where we stopped for lunch...
Baguettes all round washed down with juice for all the bairns and a chance to re-apply the Factor 50.
The cycleways were once again excellent and the route took us along a promenade on the coast for many miles and it wasnt long before we were passing the Airport and had a full view of the City of Nice.
Along the front there was effectively lanes for walking, cycling, driving and skating. Mostly folk kept to their respective lane but with the speed we were doing, we had to keep a close eye out for lane strayers.
Just before leaving Nice, we stopped off for a pit stop. We knew the end was near but 3 or 4 hills remaining in our way.
The first hill on the outskirts of Nice was relatively straight forward. 300 feet in the saddle. The follow up hills were peaks and although not high, they were steep. 5 blokes out of their saddles in the lowest gear, cycling 5 a breast for all they were worth up a steep hill. Lots of puffing panting and a few swearies later and we were there.he
Next up a gentle stroll through rocky tunnels hugging the coast....
Nearly there as we enter the outskirts of MC....
Determination to finish had got us and as we entered Monte Carlo we entered the labyrinth of tunnels that run underneath it/around it. We came out on the other side but as the gps doesn't play in tunnels, we had missed the opening we were looking for. Here it is....
(this where we should have exited.. but we kept going....)
A bit of a detour and we were back on track for the finish. Before doing the last quarter mile, those of us who had clean MC tops put them on and with a bit of deodorant you wouldn't have known we had just cycled 65 miles.
To be honest it was a bit of a nightmare trying to find the finish line where we ended up through that famous tunnel where the F1 cars go by the sea shouting neeeeyooow! In future I would definitely recommend doing a lot of prep before entering this place for bikes.
To get to the finish in Casino Square, there was one final hill. We all heaved our way up and immediately started looking for our wives and partners.
We were 5 a breast at the finish and there they were. All 5 finishing together.Great feelings of success.
Much hugging, hilarity amd photos followed. A fantastic way to bring the 17 day event to a close.
The ladies had already got a days start on us. They had checked the place out, visited some of the bars and eateries and found the very spot for our celebrations to begin in earnest.
We headed off to the Ambassador Hotel, where we were staying for a clean up.
The evening celebration was in a local pizza eatery. A fantastic meal of pizzas and lots of red wine followed. The girls also got us a cake and at the end of the evening, there was not a lot left.
Despite being pretty tired, all the team stayed up late and did the Monte Carlo tour. It was good to be able to walk off the meal and take in the sights at night.
In bed by 1am. A first for this tour.
Got another day in Monte Carlo and then we will all take the train to Nice for 2 days to see out the remainder of the tour.
No cycling just R & R.
No doubt we will look back on this charity cycle and think – did we actually do this? Yes we did… there was NO doubt about it.
But most importantly we had just cycled over 1,300 miles/ 2000km and raised a huge amount for Prostate Cancer.
(Saturday 13th September 2014)
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