03/07/2023 – PCR 2023 – Day 2

We set an alarm early enough to get a good start on the day but also to get a good amount of sleep. Part of what really hurts riders later in the race is not giving enough time to rest and recover at the start of the race.

Lots of people push through really hard whilst they’re fresh but you can guarantee that on Day 2 you’ll ride on past most of them.

We were pretty efficient in the morning packing everything up but didn’t have too much breakfast which was a bit of an issue for me having not had a huge dinner. We started riding at 5:17 and I got caught out early doors with loading the route onto my Garmin so got dropped and had to chase back on hard for a while.

After 50 minutes though I was starting to feel low on energy and felt a bit embarrassed to want to stop this early so let them know I was just pulling off and would catch them up but in reality ended up stopping for 40 minutes in a small village called Le Bono to get some food and fluids in.

It was tough to see a few riders ride on past but it was for the best, one of them even pointed out that there was a toilet the other side of the village square so I headed there for a quick morning #2 which in hindsight was a really good thing as you always feel better on the bike afterwards.

Eventually I was back on the bike and feeling strong. I was still in search of some more sustenance for the morning as I’d just been going through some of the flapjacks and snack food that I’d brought from home.

I found a small bakery in Auray on the side of the road that had just opened so hopped in there quickly. Sadly there wasn’t anything that I could have to eat there beyond some baguettes which I shoved in my bag and necked some cans of coke. Diet of an athlete.

The route took us along gravel roads and cycle paths in and out of the coast and then out to Quiberon which was really nice. It followed the outside of the spit in and out of the towns and and was pretty but windy. It was getting close to lunchtime so popped into a supermarket to stock up on some food and water and got chatting to some of the other riders who had stopped there.

The day had been really flat so far which had been nice for the mileage and for easing the legs in but it was starting to get hillier and hotter. The route was heading North West to a town of Gael along some cycle paths including a 30km stretch along a near dead straight path that was thankfully very sheltered by trees during the peak of the day.

It was not as easy as it seemed though as at regular intervals, a road crossed over the path which meant that you had to wiggle through some gates which took your speed down to a walking pace before looking both ways and picking the speed back up again.

The trees that lined the path were also quite unimaginative and with no shops or anything on route all there was to do was to listen to some music and plug away at the mileage.

There was light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel though, as the heat of the day was starting to fall from its peak whilst still being a real nuisance I came upon a little village which thankfully had a shop that was open with some other riders outside it.

I ran in, grabbed a couple of big bottles of water and some energy drinks and the one or two snacks that I could actually eat (peanuts), sat in the shade and tried to cool down and rehydrate.

It was at this point that I checked the map and at points through the day I must have overtaken Loz and Raph and some other riders which had surprised me. Some people checked the map regularly, some not at all, I think I was somewhere in the middle.

I ended up spending an hour outside this shop to really try and cool down and get set for the last few hours of the day. There was 130km to the first Checkpoint and I was 240km into the day. Whilst sat down in the shade I was calculating at what time I thought I could get to the Checkpoint, what restaurants would be open to hop in and grab some food along the route and whether it would be worthwhile.

There was a large town called Josselin 40km down the road where there were some restaurants would be perfect to refuel at so I hopped back on the bike and set to work.

I was riding in a South West direction with the sun going down ahead of me and my best playlist in my ears.

Eventually I arrive and frustratingly, they have all stopped taking new orders and I look at the other riders that are perched up tucking into their dinner as I stared on enviously. After chatting to them a bit and checking the maps there was nothing open for the rest of the route except another McDonalds in Pontivy and my mental maths gave me a 50% chance that I could make it in time before it shut.

If I got there and it was closed, I’d have to finish off all the food that I had on me, go to bed hungry and then hobble to the Checkpoint in the morning. If I made it, I’d be open to gunning the remaining 40km to the Checkpoint.

I knuckled down to it and headed for Pontivy, the sun went down any my lights went on.

The route took me along the river as I made it into Pontivy with 15 minutes to spare but as I pulled off into the McDonalds carpark, the doors were locked. Panicked, I swung round into the drive through and managed to place an order just in the nick of time.

Sat on the bench outside munched through my food as I looked at the options. The 40km to the Checkpoint wasn’t an easy 40km and looking at the tracker, a lot of riders were there so I probably wouldn’t even get a bed and likely get a disturbed nights sleep.

Alternatively there was a municipal campsite just 2km off route so taking the safe approach, I headed there. I swung into the campsite, found an empty plot and got straight to sleep despite the streetlight proving to be a frustrating nightlight.