Breakfast had been put back slightly following the group's vitesse, so we were given a much needed extra half an hour lie in. Arriving down to the breakfast room at 7:30am, it was a sea of lycra. We were sharing the hotel with one of the Action Medical L2P groups and it was a scramble to get a seat at a table. With the now customary pains au chocolat and coffee consumed, it was time to load up the van and get the bikes ready for the off. Justin from Global Adventure Challenges gave the brief this morning outlining some of the memorials we would encounter on our ride through the Somme.
We set off through the back streets of Arras and quickly got the legs turning again. We rollled through various villages and after a short climb out of Miramont, 18 miles in, we came across our first war memorial. Situated between Miramont and Courcelette, it was an Allied Memorial of roughly 3000 soldiers and Canadian and British symbols were present on many stones. The memorial was immaculately kept with the stones gleaming white and the lawn neatly trimmed. A fitting memorial to the Allied troops who died in WWI.
Back on the bike we headed the short trip to the first water stop at Martinpuich. Unfortunately roadworks were being carried out and as a result the van hadn't managed to find a suitable spot so we missed it and rolled on to Contalmaison and the memorial to McCrae's Batallion. This batallion was formed in 1914 and had a strong connection with Hearts FC, evident by some of the poppy rossettes around the memorial built from Scottish stone in 2004.
Having missed the water stop, we decided to find the nearest Tabac. Rolling in to Bray Sur Seine we spotted one on the left hand side and duly unclipped for a shot of espresso. We received a few shouts of Tour de France from the locals and Mike when asking for water was asked whether he was doping!
After a pleasant stop in the glorious sunshine we headed towards the lunch stop at Hallu. We picked up Dave along the way and came across a massive German cemetery at Vermandovillers. It was vast, but unsurprising seeing as over 22,600 German Empire Soldiers were buried here. From the pictures you can see that the cemetery is in stark contrast to the Allied memorials, maybe a bit of embarrassment from the Germans as to the hurt and suffering they caused.
On wards to Hallu and a cracking lunch prepared by Rosemary and Harvey. Another batch of stilton and broccoli soup was served up along with some bread and pate. The icing on the cake though was a cracking chicken tikka masala and rice.
With lunch digested, we cycled on to the final water stop at Plessis-de-Roye. This section we had some fun. Mike and I did a little bit of TTTing and then flew down a sweeping descent at Lassigny. Just as we were rolling towards Plessis-de-Roye a grumpy local rider went past. Initially we let him go, before Mike said, "Pete, go get him." I stuck it in the big ring, got on the drops and stuck the cadence high. I didn't seem to be reeling him in, so backed off slightly. I was however gaining on him so I put on the afterburners and managed to catch his back wheel. To say he was surprised to see me was an understatement. He turned off just before the water stop, where we met Hannah and Alan. Hannah briefed us on our route to the hotel, I wish we'd not listened!
Wanting to get his average speed up, Mike and I rolled out together and quickly set about raising the speed. It was just a short 17 mile hop to Compiegne, but due to miscomunication of signs and directions we got horribly lost on some of the most trecherous roundabouts I've ever witnessed. A quick look on Mike's phone and we found a route to the Mercure. When we arrived, Mark was sat smuggly in reception having arrived first. Bike's put in the storage room, we settled down with a 9 euro pint(!) to watch the last few km's of stage 20. Team Sky were on the front with Wiggo in yellow trying to bridge the gap to a breakaway and set up Cav. Wiggo rolled off, but Boasson Haagen still had plenty to do to catch the lone riders, so out of the pack sprung Cav. He put in a spurt of sprinting that was pure magic to watch, to snatch the stage win. The following day L'Equipe had the below headline:
After a fine meal, it was time for the quiz hosted by Hannah. Thanks to Mike's horticultural knowledge and Mark and Rob's knowledge of arts and history, Team It's Not A Race, only went and won.
