It's currently 8pm, and the boys are still at least an hour away from the hotel. The started riding at 7am, and will have riden just over 110 miles when they eventually arrive :( those poor boys. The cumulative fatigue is really starting to wear thin - they are all absolutely shattered.
There haven't been enough hours in the day for our boys to even get enough sleep, never mind having any down time to switch off from the task at hand. Literally every waking moment for them is cycling. As Jake said, it's the only part of his body that is being used. James and I went out for dinner at 10.30pm last night, and the other poor buggers made do with some bread and pate.
It was definitely adrenaline today that got the boys through and kept them alert. Tomorrow's ride is a measley 65 miles. It takes us to Malaga. Regardless of tomorrow's challenge, we all need a good night's sleep and some rest. Luckily our hotel has a restaurant, so we will no doubt just be grabbing a bit here and hitting the hay. Shame as this town is quite pretty, but we just need sleep!! I doubt anyone will be suggesting a 6am start tomorrow...!!!
Anyway... On a more up beat note - wow! Pico! That was actually amazing! I'm sure those of you who are reading this will have probably been following the live time updates this afternoon as I kept track of their progress lol!! James also did a go pro recording of the down hill bit, so hopefully that will be uploaded to my YouTube profile this evening, I'll let you know.
So they boys set off at 7am, and arrived near the base of the mountain at around 9.30 ish, I don't remember. We had a quick coffee, and then the boys set off on staggered starts.
Jake was without navigation, and because there were a few options and turnings, I attempted to meet him at every junction to point in the direction. This meant every so often I could go on ahead and meet all the boys in case they wanted a drink or an energy burst of something from the car. It seemed to work fairly well, as id noted all the junctions along with their distance from the base yesterday. But I missed one... Poor Jake. Luckily he hadn't gone too far round the corner when I clicked him and shouted "turn round!! Sorry!!!" Poor bugger.
Then a few minutes later, there was another cross road, about a mile from the final barrier. I completely had no idea which way it was. I had no choice but to pick a direction and go as far and as fast as I could to make sure for definite which was the right or wrong way. It was the right way, so I turned round and drove back to meet Jake. My fears had been realised, and he had met the junction before I managed to get back to him in time. Fortunately, he had gone the right way. He later explained that he saw me steam off into the distance and just thought I had finished navigating him and that was it - follow me up here, I'm off to the finish to chill out with the others and I'll see you later.
Meanwhile, Steve had stormed up the mountain at an impressive pace. He did really well and made really good progress. After about 2000m altitude he said the air was notably thinner and it was getting more difficult.
James had a good ride too, and was more interested in just chilling out and having a good time, saving energy for the Unknown tough bit, past the barrier.
All our boys made it to the top with less than 2.5 hrs from first rider setting off to last one arriving. That's 18 miles of relentless climbing at around 7%. Wowsers!!
About another half a mile or mile up, past the barrier, there is a little wigwam monument with a statue of Our Lady on it. This marks the end of the bike track, and is the official marker of the point that is "Europes highest road". The boys rode this bit together, and I walked up to meet them.
The view was absolutely breathtaking, and a little overwhelming to be honest!! I've never seen anything like it. It was a little hazy and a little cloudy which was a shame.
The rest of the ascent, to the actual peak, involved a further 6.5 miles of cycling and almost another 1000m of altitude. You could already feel how thin the air was. There was no path, only gravel and the Unknown. As I said yesterday, most riders just go back the same way, finishing the challenge where they started. Our boys had intended to go over and down the other side. It was weird to see something in the distance sticking out even higher, almost completely covered in snow, and cloud. After seeing it up close, there was just no chance in hell that it was even worth considering and discussing - reaching the peak and going down the other side was an impossible task. We achieved what we set out to, and reached the end of the highest paved climb.
This picture above isn't even Pico proper - it's a foot hill in front of it!!
Instead, the boys decided to go back down the same way, and cycle round the mountain. This has added an extra 30 miles on to their day.
I'm so proud of the boys of what they have achieved today. Just three more days of cycling left now!!
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