I have never seen anyone suffer so much as today. Several times on today’s stage I would stop pedalling, turn and look back to Chippo and see him stationary with his his head in his hands. The profile was simply up all the way with a tiny descent as a scant reward. The final climb was a relentless 26 miles. The temperature was in the 30′s and it’s all on gravel tracks. Every spare breath that Chippo had was spent cursing, everything. I would guess that I was top me the list! Today was the short stage! The easy one! Just 50 miles and then back to the (patched up, more on that later) RV but it was bad. Chippo was pedalling at just 3 miles an hour and I was walking alongside and then he got off and we were down to 2 miles an hour so I made us get back on! The air was blue. After continuous uphill pedalling off road along bumpy tracks we made the summit. The descent was fantastic but didn’t feel like compensation for the pain and abuse, both on our bodies and my ears. 6’27″ so how we are going to manage the longer stages I don’t know. Chippo admits he lost the plot today.
The RV story- the insurance doesn’t cover driving into barriers!

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Sent using Sony mobile.

Ok its simple
Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/26212005@N04/ .

We will be updating everyday so if you want to see suffering in germany check out the hwcc team.

Regards

Chippo

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OK, everything’s packed, I have a new front wheel since the old one exploded at the weekend so thanks to Saddle Safari for getting that sorted for me at the last minute!  The rain has put paid to any last minute panic training so we should be nicely rested before the start on Sunday.

It looks like you’ll be able to track the race here http://bike-gps.idrz.de/portal/Touren/SAT/region_TG-2008_sat.htm# via a live internet feed.