London, United Kingdom
dugong /ˈduːgɒŋ,ˈdjuː-/ //noun// noun: dugong; plural noun: dugongs; plural noun: dugong //1. a sea cow found on the coasts of the Indian Ocean from eastern Africa to northern Australia. It is distinguished from the manatees by its forked tail.// 2013 saw this little Dugong migrate from the warm climes of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, to the more hostile climes on London. //2014 sees the Dugong take on the crazy challenge of the Tour de Force. 21 days, over 3,500km, one week ahead of the (other) pro cyclists in the Tour de France.// Join me in what will be a journey of crazy self discovery, on a bike.//

Friday 18 July 2014

Stage 18: Pau to Hautacam

For the last six months when I've told people I'll be cycling the Tour de France route they've thought I mean I'm doing the Etape stage. 

Each year a large sportive is held on one if the tour stages. This year Stage 18 was the obvious choice as it contains the famous Col de Tourmalet. My understanding is that it is famous from the 30s and 40s when there was no tarmac and it was especially tough. I would honestly not especially hard, and not especially nice. Ditto for the Hautacam climb we finished on.

The big challenge for the day was the heat, but luckily I handle this much better than most of my British friends. Other than that it was a matter of pedalling through to a huge sense of relief at the end of the day- the mountains are over!
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