Friday 19th February. Pertuis -Grignan. 130km. Done: 973km. To go: 1915km. Weather: Absolutely filthy
Surprisingly our hardest day yet. 70km in driving rain then turned north into the teeth of the mistral. Blowing at 40kph. Simply brutal. Six fallers including Lawrence. Yet another pothole disguised as a puddle. Shrugged it off. 'Normally after that eight blokes pile in and kick the sh*t out of me'.
They say the mistral can drive you mad. I can believe it. Through Carpentras we skirted Ventoux, lost in the clouds. At least climbing you feel a sense of achievement, into wind you just feel drained and frustrated.
We grind through Aubignon, twinned with Barrow in Furness. Why? Now we know. Three things will make this trip. Weather. Weather. Weather. I read that 40 per cent of brits who emigrate to souther France head home within a year. Maybe to Barrow?
Thought I'd lost a filling, my mouth full of bits. Realised it was the grit being fired off Lavelle's rear wheel. We've cycled 7 of the 28 days, but done over one third of the distance...
To donate visit www.dallagliocycleslam.com