WHAT A DAY, WHAT A MIRACLE. Yesterday I was still close to giving up, which I really meant seriously and today I drive like changed. Again over 2300 meters altitude, 2 alpine passes and 187km.

Thank you very much for all the mails, SMS, Whatsapp, the sympathy, recognition and encouragement. And, yes, I also think about it when it gets difficult. Helps already. As long as I stay healthy, I drive this adventure …

I have now ridden the last 2 days 450 km against the wind and that was hard, plus this constant rain and also bad roads that offer significant resistance, that is, I had to invest considerable work. Obviously I underestimated the environmental conditions of a Tour de France. Yes, I can ride big distances, but just in nice weather on nice roads. These days show me another world.

I am glad to have done some research on regeneration. How to regenerate correctly and effectively to regain strength. So after I arrived at the hotel yesterday, ready to go, it was clear what I needed. So I completely withdrew from the social, drank, ate and found from 21.30 sleep, which gave my body until this morning 5.30 interruption-free the opportunity to regenerate. Logically, I would have liked to take a beer with the guys.

So I felt surprisingly good this morning and was amazed that I have only 2 beats above my normal resting pulse. Unusually beautiful I then found the 40 min. transfer to the start to Dole, I could sleep again quite relaxed until I was awakened.

In Dole it went off then. Do I still have to mention that it was raining? Hey today it rained the whole day. If it rained dogs and cats the last days, it was shoelaces today. It didn’t even stop at the last climb up the mountain. Means wet all day long. I remembered Christoph’s words to stay healthy and therefore stopped only briefly to eat and continued immediately.

The higher you get, the colder it gets, which is terrible for me. It then became 7 degrees cold. Memories of Castello de Hug came back, but I just drove on. So it went the whole 10 hours.

Now in the hotel I learn the whole story, that was a terrible day for everyone, the crew and the drivers. Without wanting this to sound disrespectful, I’m glad that even the cracks had their problems today. There were tasks from guys where I would never have thought, from racers who were always away frome. And then there are the cool men, who sometimes say, hey, I’m just stamping, it’s not so easy anymore. Of the Lifers, the core team, 14 out of 40 went by car to the hotel today. The transport of the others – the guests – had to be specially organized. Then the material also gives way, the wheels suddenly have defects. Whereas such a defect can also always be welcome …

Then there was a funny anecdote that carried me through the day. On the first ascent, I’m still advising someone who is already cranking the lowest gear at 5% and snorting. Then Beat, our Swiss Englishman, passes me and I say to him: “Hey, Beat, you say nothing”. It took a while, then he was 10m in front of me and cleared his throat only a “T`schuldigung” and pedals on like in a trance.

<< Photos of the rain >>>

Finally: I have to get through this one cold day now, that will be hard tomorrow, big mountains, steep climbs, rain again and cold. How that will be, I do not even like to know now. The team briefing just now was scary enough, where you then sit there and I think to myself, how am I supposed to pack this, …, I want to go home. No, I want to go south and to do that I still have to pass this one test tomorrow now that I’ve come this far.

Man, that’s exhausting …