Tour de France - Etape 3 (Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne - 194km, 2500m)

So you realise you are becoming a little blase about distances when today with 194km and 2500m could be classed as easy!

5 hours sleep was not the ideal preparation, but my simple, but cunning plan to have a better stage 3 was to::

1. Not oversleep when the alarm went at 05:00

2. Eat a breakfast so big people would stare at my plate

3. Cycle faster to get back in time for dinner and before it got dark (tops of mountains are a little bleak at night)

Task one was failed miserably - bad omens...

However, task 2 was executed to pure perfection; big bowl of cereal, followed by fresh grapefruit, orange and watermelon segments and some pastries (I forget which type); 2 large glasses of orange juice; fried egg, scrambled eggs and a sausage and bacon toasted sandwich + caffeine (lots of caffeine!)

It's fair to say that task 3 started badly given the 5 extra kg I was carrying - Goggins I certainly wasn't - felt like I'd eaten the boat...

Stunning roads, even the hills were sadistically enjoyable...

A stern "what would some of my friends think" conversation was had internally and I settled into a steady, but challenging pace - the result was tough, but solid and successful day - stage 3 completed.

Wanted to say thanks to everyone who has read and visited the blog. I'm genuinely surprised (and delighted) people are interested.

- good news is that I have now done almost 600km and I am still going.

- bad news is that these are just hills - the mountains start Wednesday..

Merci beaucoup