14:14:14 CYCLE CHALLENGE DAY 7 Hasselt (Belgium) to Goesdorf (Luxembourg) 104miles WEIGHTS: Neil Fowler - 14st 9lbs Sion Owen - 12st 11lbs Michael Banner - 11st 10lbs WEATHER: Hot and sunny, high of 34c 7:30am - Team all meet for breakfast and are still trying to recover from last nights episode of Neils suitcase going missing whilst checking into the hotel. We searched everywhere, and come to the conclusion that it must have been stolen when we unloaded the van. Everyone was devastated, until Lawrence went back to check the roof box and realised that he hadnt taken it off. Also last night, Lawrence asks anyone if they know what the local delicacy of Luxembourg is so he can try and make something for dinner. Michael tells him he thinks its Battemberg Cake!!! 8:30am - Weather is already roasting hot. Sunny and 27c. 9:00am - Lawrence & Peter start loading the van up and making plenty of drinks. Neil was drinking two bottles of energy drink an hour yesterday, so we need to have loads ready made. 10:00am - Michaels tracker is uploaded to Facebook and at 10:10am they set off along the big long straight D20 into Liege. Colin asks Michael out of curiosity if his favourite cake, coincidently happens to be Battemberg cake??? It is. Hmmmm. 10:45am - Van goes way on ahead and Colin gets out for a run. He tells them to pick him up 2 miles up the road. Temperature is already 29c 11:00am - Riders pass Colin on a big steep hill and the van picks him up 5 minutes later at the top. 11:55am - Michael pulls the Support Team over complaining of a soft back tyre. Its nothing major, just needs more air. Neil tells Colin hes feeling drained. He appears really low today. Sion is told to try and keep Neils spirits up. 12:30pm - Really tough navigating through the winding streets of Liege, but we get through it. Temperature is now up to 32c and rising. 1:00pm - Out of the frying pan... They finally get out of Liege, but the hill that awaits them on the other side is just cruel. 1:20pm - The hills are just relentless. When they get to the top of a massive climb, they go around a corner and a faced with another. 1:40pm - The riders stop for more drinks. Its 34c now. Neil is struggling a lot with sweat going in his eyes and messing with his contact lenses. Theyve done 37miles today already. 1:42pm - Neil agrees to get to the 40miles Mark and stop for dinner. 2:00pm - The riders pull into a lay-by and get sprayed down with cold water from a hand-held jet-washer. Lawrence has sorted chicken and chips out for them to make up for the small breakfast they had. 2:45pm - They start stint number 2 and theyre about 30miles North of Luxembourg. They are going to try and do it in one, to cut down on time. We need to get into our destination earlier tonight, as all of us are surviving on about 5 hours kip and its starting to catch up with everyone. 3:50pm - Theres still no let up with the hills, as they enter the Ardennes region of Belgium not far from the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 1 track. We thought Belgium was meant to be flat! Neil made a joke before we came away, that knowing our luck hed probably find a ski-resort here. Hes just cycled past one. 4:45pm - Some of the toughest roads of the Challenge so far. Long winding climbs every couple of minutes. Neil continues to struggle with sweat in his eyes. Temperatures have dropped, but are still 32c. 5:15pm - The support crew pass the riders calypso ice pops out the window as they pass by. One final surge for the border now. Been a great second stint so far. Really covered some ground over some testing terrain. 6:00pm - Team Ciara arrives in a Luxembourg. No border checkpoint no flags, no fanfare, just one EU sign to say youve crossed... thats it. A country famous for its Radio Station and whos national sport is the Eurovision Song Contest. Time for a drink stop, then 27miles to Goesdorf and the end of todays stage. 7:00pm - Perfect tree lined roads and hardly any traffic. Weather is still hot (28c) even though the sun has started to go down. The support crew spot a man sat in a cafe, wearing the worst wig theyve ever seen in their lives. Its an absolute beauty. They try to get a photo, but the man clocks Colin and goes inside. Its made their day. 7:40pm - One massive big long downhill section for the riders that goes straight into Goesdorf. Made quite a lot of mileage up this afternoon. 7:58pm - Team Ciara finishes Day 7, in Goesdorf, Luxembourg. All the riders put in a hell of a shift. All are absolutely knackered. For anybody who knows their cycling, Michael Banners on-board computer tells him theyve done 6300ft of climbing today. Thats twice the height of Snowdon. Theyre exactly half way now... the weather is getting hotter and its getting harder and harder, every day. None are reporting injuries, just extreme tiredness. At one point just after arriving in Luxembourg, Neil claims to have briefly fallen asleep on his bike. Bath, some food and an early night for everybody. Sorry also for there not being many photos today. I promise Ill make up for it tomorrow. Thanks everybody for all the messages of support we are receiving as we go along. It means a lot and it does really lift them. Thanks again. Tomorrow... FRANCE. #itsallaboutthegirls justgiving/TeamCiara14-14-14
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 19:15:12 +0000
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