P2G Day 2 Sens - Semur-en-Auxois

Another great day of cycling today. Weather was awesome. Only menace was the many bugs that got stuck to my glasses.

Started day feeling pretty good and kept a good pace up for most of the morning, averaging a speed of 17.2mph. Long quiet roads undulating in nature but some super descents to keep me happy. Gary the Cobler kept me amused, he has finally decided that bib shorts look way better when under one's jersey rather than having a jersey tucked in. He noticed this as I stripped some layers. Gary the cobler promised me a before and after shot of his bib short wearing style for my blog, but I am still waiting.

After the first water stop I cycled for a long stretch with Dennis 'the Stiglet'. Dennis is my room mate and did the London to Paris challenge with me. He got the name 'Stiglet' because he is like the Stig from Top Gear but in a cycling sense. He rides up-hill, down hill and the flats at the same speed. It's as if his legs don't know what a gradient is. We sped along all the way to just before lunch and stopped at a cafe in Chablis for some coke (not wine, though this was tempting as we passed loads of beautiful vineyards and Chablis is famous for the same). At this stop the locals were moaning and groaning that certain bikes had been propped up against flowerpots - I rolled my eyes and thought they should be grateful that we were contributing to their economy by purchasing so much stuff from this local cafe. It was at this juncture that I noticed transformers were present here too (as pic below demonstrates).
Cycled a little way further to the lunch stop. Chunky girl was already here! Chunky girl had not cycled today and opted for the lift in the van option. Lunch was as awesome as ever and we were in a very pretty part of France in amazing weather. Happy days.

The cycling after lunch was hard going. Not only was my belly full of various delights from the cooks but some big long tasty hills were encountered. I enjoyed climbing this hill and felt in good form. I caught up with Josh at the top who had stopped to take a photo (so I took one too, but was really glad of a quick rest). Then we sped along together to the water stop. There was a cute dog here which reminded me of my beautiful Cody. I hope she's behaving herself back in the UK.
Josh and I powered along together for the final section. This was hard going again and my left knee had started to niggle for the last 10 miles and my right foot had become numb. We found an awesome descent but the road had been re-surfaced and there was loads of loose gravel. I got the fear a little and went down slowly with brakes pressed hard (I still went faster than Josh, but think this was because I was way fatter). Super zoomy Josh (who happens to be a personal trainer) pulled me along almost to the finish. We stopped to take pictures of Semur-en-Auxois town which was just so pretty. We then cycled a few more metres to the finish with me in pole position. What a great day!
Cycled a distance of 82.64 miles at an average speed of 16.4mph and a max speed of 40.7mph. Spent 5 hours on the saddle today.