Tour de France 2010

Right, things aren't going too well. Monday it seems is an extension of Sunday in France, for bike shops especially. The practical upshot of which is that all of the bike shops are shut; and believe me I've tried pretty much every one including one that Google made up (not only the business, but also the street that it is supposedly located on has gone).

As well as getting a bit worked up, I burned through an uncomfortable ammount of GPS power doing that - now dumping the energy I stored when I was in the Cybercafe' from lappy into the phone. I'm resigned to being in Dijon at least untuil the morning; most shops open up around 10, allowing at least an hour for repair, then another to pack the bike back up I would then be leaving in the heat of the day which will slow me considerably.

Hopfuly I can get a big milage day in tomorrow anyway; if I'm within striking distance of Geneva by then end of tomorrow then I shal ride what distance remains on the morning/afternoon of the 7th. The plan had been to reach the rendezvous on the 6th, but I don't strictly need to be there until early evening on the 7th.

Plan B would be to take a train. That is a last resort because I fear that trying to board a train would be more hasstle than its worth; certainly the Eurostar wasn't straitforward. I should still be able make the rendezvous on the 7th, hopfuly without cheating, but this has been a costly set back.

Seriously though; an entire city where every bike shop is closed all day on Monday is a big culture shock. Looking around them all has been very frustrating, particularly because the opening hour signs are a bit hard to understand, they say open tuesday to saturday, then give two ranges of times; I have now deduced the latter set to indicate the Saturday opening hours (I had thought it meant Monday-Sat 10 to 5, then the 14:15 to 18:00 opening I had thought might be the Sunday/Monday times).

Dijon, though is a beautiful city; imagine the Paris, but without the major hustle and bustle - if you like its a good compromise between Paris and small villiages in France. This makes it a great place to hang out with friends, so I have resolved to return one day, with some people who's company I enjoy and chilax. I'm not good at chilaxing solo you see.

I've given my bike a nice clean, and to try and increase speed tomorrow I'm going to pump my tyres to 65psi, before I load the bike. I was doing it with the load already on, but this made them quite squishy and the rolling resistance has been very high. I figure the 65psi limit must assume a heavier rider than me; I'm quite light really, so it should be ok to do the pressure that way around. So provided the tyre doesn't blow and I don't get a pinch flat then I should have a lower rolling resistance and hence higher speed.

I will get to Geneva; no opposition will halt me.Read more