Stage 8

Campanile hotel (Issodoune) to hot hot hell

Due to our lack of mileage yesterday and on the first day 'objective Basque country' is looking dangerously unlikely. Determined to put a good stint in we piled out of the hotel after a disgraceful two man assault on the breakfast buffet. The idea was to do exactly the same route (in reverse but riding the bikes forwards) as the TDF boys had done a day previous. 40k was taken down in record time (20 of that was not even on the stage route and was us getting to the starting line) but so were full bidons due to the intense heat. Lunchtime was a welcome sight and we stopped at a great little road-side restaurant. Steak and salad x 2 please. Not realising that the high salt content of our meal would probably make us even thirstier we tucked in. The cheese desert (brie, stilton and goats) was also a woefully bad idea. Feeling a lot heavier we continued on our quest. Things started to go wrong around 20k afterwards when having finished off the emergency bidon we somehow got lost. So, so, thirsty, like an oven only more hilly. Things got really bad after we had cycled 2k down a country road to be greeted by a dead end, a farm house and the mud-track up a massive hill. Much to the amusement of the farmer I decided to have a lay down in the middle of his road so that I could dream about Orangina fountains. I told Adam to leave me there and to think of himself, he didn't and in a very 'Saharan film' manner we struggled to a nearby village. In a local bar we ordered 3 drinks each (coke, water and beer) and agreed we were done for the day. We knew it was going to be a hard, the stage in the wrong direction goes mostly uphill and it was insanely hot but it still felt like a massive failure. Camping was our punishment.