Finally! Sunshine all day today, even though the morning was still cold (7-9C). The coffee at breakfast obviously had an effect on Patrick and Fred, because they must have stopped fifteen times for a toilet break at the side of the road! The road was relatively flat, and with the wind behind us most of the way, we made good progress. The wind seemed to change directions several times, but we nevertheless covered the 130kms in good time. There was hardly any traffic today, as youll see from the pictures, which you can find here. Note how blue the sky is!This being Sunday, not much was open - but Marc still managed to stock up on Kit-Kats, coke, water and some biscuits. We had a very light lunch at a bar where we saw the start of the Monaco Grand-Prix, and we arrived at our destination just in time to see the end.
Unfortunately, Marc had left his jacket and camera in one of the places where we had stopped yesterday, but when he phoned, no one had seen anything. He caught a stomach bug (probably the Crême Catalane at the Chinky) and hadn't been his usual state of excitement for the past two days. Today, however, everything was "Majuscule, Tip-Top" again!
Vincent has developed tendinitis in one of his knees, but he's gritting his teeth and suffering through it - but we're a bit worried as to whether he'll be able to make it to Porto. Only three days to go, so we're crossing our fingers! Fred's ankles which were troubling him in the rain and cold were OK today. The only other "bobo" to mention is Gwenn's tendon, but he keeps playing around with the height of his saddle, and things seem to have improved.
The sun makes so much difference! Today was really enjoyable, and after more than 1000 kms, we're all in pretty good cycling shape. Apparently, Portugal is quite hilly, but since we've stayed at around 800m all day today, the 1000m bumps in the map might not be too bad.Upon arrival in Benavente, we found a terrace in the sun and had a few beers. We weren't greatly impressed by the hotel that we'd selected from Internet yesterday, so we moved on down the road to a very nice 3-star hotel. The bikes are locked away in a garage for the night, and after showers/baths to remove the Shimano tatoos, we'll head out for some more beverages and some food. This is bull country, so a serious piece of meat could be in order! In the meantime, the Madrid tennis final is on TV, so we'll see how Federer does!
A demain!
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