Stage 10: Tour De France

Today was a day for more hills. France seems to offer a lot of these. The day was the perfect mix of everything. We had plenty of hills and the downhills were my favorite so far.

Instead of riding to the start point, we were given a ride by a new friend - Mehdi. Angels come in all shapes and Mehdi (fellow African and former cyclist in Algeria) offered a helping hand and we took him up in it.

We started off the day, fortunately with DDEAV. Given the nature of the route, the peloton was probably over 50 people - a testament that the French love to climb.

The longest climb was about 7.8km at 5% grade but had two more at 6% grade and about 6km. The peloton had plenty of strong people. Most of whom, this was their backyard. I kept to my strategy - steady pace, stay in zone 2/3 and keep my 80rpm cadence rolling.

If it wasn’t for the sun, this would have ranked high in my favorite days. I enjoyed the downhills. Some were really long and you could catch some speed. Also since the hill grades downhill are 5-3%, you can pedal and really go fast.

For TDF, this will be a day for roasting sprinters and a strong breakaway can do some real damage. For those that train in hills, they will have fun. I can see it even in our group, people who leave around these areas we are cycling in have more explosive power. If you are wondering, I think I am better at holding a steady pace for long than constantly changing.

We ended the ride in a beautiful small town of Issoire. DDEAV gets great reception everywhere they go and we are honored to ride with these incredible ladies.