Stage 12 is now complete. It went from Luchon to Carcassone. The stage was 130 miles which took us 7 hours to complete. The route was easier, although it did manage to have a Cat 2 climb and a few Cat 4 climbs. However, most of it was flat and with favorable winds.



A couple of friends came to visit me from Northern Virginia. It was nice to see familiar faces. They did the ride with us on this “recovery day” – if you can call 130 miles recovery. They got a taste for what it feels like to ride 7 hours on a hot day in the Tour de France route. They are also doing tomorrow’s stage, which is close to 145 miles. Glad that they could come and visit and provide moral support. At this point, it is more a mental game. We are past the halfway point, and everything is at close to the limit.



As for the ride today, my legs were tired today of course, but so were everyone else’s so the pace was nice and easy for most of the time. It was good, because any hard push would have cramped my legs for sure. Once we got to the last third of the ride, I think several riders could sense the finish and picked up the pace. Having a tail wind for the last 10 miles did not help matters, and we raced home. I kept thinking my legs would go any minute, specially with the heat. But finally we made it to the hotel. I was happy to have finished the stage.



When we got finished the temperature had climbed to 95 degrees, a very hot day on the saddle. And here in Southern France, internet access and AC are not that common. I am sitting in a bar with wifi and putting up with the smoke because my room is easily over 90 degrees. Hopefully it will cool down a bit.

Finally, I want to thank you all for your encouraging comments. Being in France, it is nice to know you all are pulling for me, as I go through this adventure.

This is an awesome experience, something that I will treasure forever I know. Yesterday's stage brought all emotions to light, I was in awe, pain, in tears, and laughter, and that was within the first climb alone. By the second one, I was so punch drunk I completely forgot to eat and drink. That did me in for sure. I need to remember that for the next alpine stages.