Day 5 Troyes to Saulieu 90.6miles (4915ft)

Today was a great day to be on a bike. There is a recipe for the perfect bike ride, the weather, the people, the route and a positive mental attitude. Today we had all of the above by the bucket load.

The weather was sunny, some wind but not draining and not too hot so we were in danger of sun stroke. 

The team was down to 8 today as Steve hasn't been able to ride due to aggravating a previous injury. We started the day with Chris and Judy joining us, two of johns friends. Sadly they had to leave all too quickly but it was nice to meet them. The remainder of the team of 8 were all ready for another day in the saddle. Aware that there were some injuries and weary bodies we made sure to ride together and take regular breaks. 

The route though I say it myself was stunning. I can't really claim any credit for it. It's just France for you. What a gorgeous country and one that I appreciate more each time that I visit.

We left the ancient town of Troyes after a short tour of the city centre where there are many fine medieval buildings. 

We then left the urban environment behind and rode out of Champagne and into Burgundy. It was just beautiful and no amount of photos would do it justice. So I won't try. 

The countryside was full of arable crops and some large herds of Charolei cows. The roads were wide and pothole free and we made good progress even on long slow but manageable gradients..

Then occasionally we were treated to long fast weaving descents.

However sometimes the best laid plans and route plotting still uncover small errors and we did get in some 'off roading' practice when the route took us down a cart track. I find the best way to deal with this is to ride on ahead so you can't hear the moaning and anyone without route notes has no choice but to follow. ;-) There was actually an easy alternative to today's 'cart track' but Andy was keen to forge on with the off road option so we did. 

Thankfully with no punctures induced we were all soon back on to Tarmac and rolling on to a coffee stop besides a chateau.

After a short spell riding along the canal de Bourgogne we then stopped for lunch laid on by our amazing team of support drivers. Nick and Karen, Ant and Rob have been doing an awesome job of keeping us all on the road. Without them we would be totally lost and Idris would have to refill his own bottles rather than passing them through the van window for refilling (and stealing by Andy). 

Towards the end of the day there was another small route plotting error which meant a short diversion and a hill with 12% gradient thrown in for free! It did have its plus points though. 

So the last essential ingredient was a positive mental attitude and we had that in bucket loads today too. It could well have been the impact of the kind donations we have received to our fund raising overnight. So good to see at the end of the day. 

Thanks one and all. I must go to sleep as I have fallen asleep at least 5 times while writing this. Expect random typing. Content and spelling in that respect. ...!

Tomorrow will mark over half way and we have 107 miles to do so an early start is in order.