As the tough gets going...

End of Stage 2 and we've left the Loire behind and reached the beautiful Mont Dore in the Auvergne. The best cycling of the trip so far. But more on that shortly. Backtracking slightly...

We spent 2 rest days in the beautiful town of Beaugency sur Loire, where there was nothing much to report other than we ate like our lives depended on it, partially rehydrated, enjoyed/suffered a rap/hip hop concert totally out of character with the medieval town and completely overstayed our welcome at the four star hotel. Apparently two cups of tea doesn't justify two 4 hour stays in their opulent lounge, recharging every item we had, draining their wifi, and drinking copious amount of free tap water.

A key highlight was my interview for a French adventure/cycling programme with a very hairy presenter called Henri Jean-Jacques le Babibelle Boursin. More of that later.

And I am loving having a larger tent after Nicky and James made a detour on their hols to complete the tent exchange orchestrated perfectly by Lu back at HQ. Thanks to all. Seriously, do not underestimate the luxury of avoiding suffocation via tent fabric every night and actually being able to stretch your legs out after 100ks.

So we now find ourselves at the end of our second week, deep in the Auvergne, south of Clermont Ferrand, famous for its volcanic springs which bring you Evian, Volvic & Vittel etc. We are resting up for a day at Mont Dore, one of the main peaks here, at about 1100m altitude. And it is all getting tougher.

The honeymoon period is definitely over and the reality of cycling over 100k every day is beginning to kick in, especially as the uphill now seems to far outweigh the downhill. The main concern is the impact on joints, mainly knees, of which Cheeks has been struggling with most of the week. Fingers crossed this is just our bodies getting used to the stress being put on them.

So the highlights of the week:
- Cycling in the Auvergne is totally fantastic. Few tourists (other than French ones, but then it is their country after all), quiet roads and stunning rural countryside surrounded by beautiful volcanic peaks
- Climbing 1000+ metres altitude yesterday to reach Mont Dore. By far the hardest days cycling with about 70% uphill, but that only makes the satisfaction at the end all the greater. I'm pretty sure Cheeks feels the same, but I haven't seen him for the past 6 hours as he has been stretching in a shady spot..
- Locals love us passing by and regularly clap and wish us encouragement, shouting 'Allez Wiggins', 'Bon courage' etc. Brilliant
- Brits living out here seeing the flags and our tour shirts, offering dinner and beds if ever passing through again. One couple even sponsored us in hard cash there and then. The kindness of strangers indeed
- French camp sites are plentiful and always seem to turn up when we need one
- French camp sites nearly all have swimming pools
- Cheeks' cooking is a definite tour highlight. And my washing up is reaching legendary status
- French cheese and bangers (now I know to avoid tripe)
- Farmers tans coming on a treat
- My beard is at last starting to resemble growth of sorts

And the lowlights/ frustrations/ casualties and the dam ridiculous:
- Pigeons. Have a habit of running under my wheels
- White van drivers are ar*eholes which ever country you are in. If only either one of us had any energy left halfway up the ascent of Mont Dore as one local artisan cut us up...
- Knees. They are definitely feeling it. Being medivacced off the tour would surely incurr the strictest penalty
- French campsites. Full of French holiday makers in mobile homes. Incredible
- Not being able to swim in French pools without tight lycra speedos. Crashingly disappointing every time the attendant doesn't lets us in. Not even our cycling shorts are deemed tight enough! I can't think of any Englishman that owns a pair.. Ah, Jimmy...
- Cheeks' cooking. Bloody marvellous, but having a significant impact on global warming
- Cheeks' cutting-edge inflatable mattress got an irreparable puncture, which seems crazy if you saw how many holes it came with as standard. A 3 hour search for a replacement in the industrial heartland of Chateauroux almost sent us both mad
- Travel pillows are a waste of time. Imagine trying to sleep on a balloon. Exactly
- I've lost the key to my bike lock so bought a new lock. Only, because the old D lock is still locked to my bike, I can't remove the 2kg of dead weight without the key, that I've lost
- Our farmers tans look ridiculous when not in cycling kit
- My beard is continuously overshadowed by the Beast of Bodmin riding beside me

So all in all, life is very good. Cruising through French countryside with the sun on our backs, living simply is inspiring, enlightening and dam good for the soul.

It will certainly get tougher especially as we head towards the Alps, but this was never going to be plain sailing. If it was, it wouldn't be half as much fun.

Bon courage et a bientot