Super Besse - Race Day

Back in the Massif Central for the Super Besse stage, and the boys are excited about the first real mountain-climbing-esque riding they'll see. We got to the mountain pretty early to stake out a good spot, and settled in with a mere 7 hours to go. Being more prepared for the weather than last time, we weren't even too bothered by the persistent rain.

The day seemed to go much faster than the others, and with an hour or so to go before the publicity van, George and I went to see what freebies we could scab at the finish line. You know that expression... 'Taking candy from a baby'? It's almost as easy taking it from 8 and 9 year olds! We may or may not have resorted to sneaky tactics to beat the kids to the lolly bags that were getting thrown into the crowd. Pretty pleased with ourselves, we wandered back just in time for the caravan.

Again with a ditch behind us, we adopted similar tactics to last time. All going well until the Haribo truck comes along, then it went a bit pear-shaped. Graham ended up diving across the ditch around some mans legs and practically ripping a packet of lollies from his hand. Then stands up cheering and fist-pumping before realising that the other three people in the scrum weren't quite as happy with the result. The video is hilarious to watch now, but the man was pretty scary at the time!

The bunch was much bigger as it went past today, so it was a little harder to pick people out. The speed at which they climb, and the ease at which they seem to be doing it, still blows my mind. I know this is their job, and this is what they do – but it's crazy!