Mill Blog ♥

Day Two! 18-30 Club...

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The guys set out about 8.15 after a very average night sleep caused by  drunk Italian youth's singing happy birthday at least seven times and not getting on very well with, and I quote 'European sheets' apparently are very easy to get tangled up in...!

Day two began, good news the sun was out, bad news they were facing an 85km climb, a constant climb that had a low gradient but just went on and on and on.  This pretty much zapped the energy out of the guys and they still had a 70km climb ahead of them.

It was a tough ride and a tough morning but all three reached the top at lunchtime, which they found interesting, an out of season ski resort, which felt like a ghost town or something from a slasher movie.

All in all the stats were 131km with 2500m of climbing!  Stu was on form, riding with Cameron - one of the guides and Javier, leaving Ed and Luke behind (something to do with the weight/body mass power ratio - accordingly to Stu). The climb took a long time but the descent was amazing.  At the top it was pretty cold and the guys had been warned to layer up, also warned more rain was on the way but within two minutes in to the descent the riders were stripping off with a pleasant change in conditions - heat and sun.

Competitiveness has started to creep in, Stu with the Javier and Cameron (both Ed and Luke complained that Cameron gave Stu a hearty push up the mountain) Scottish favouritism!  So Ed and Luke joined forces with two other riders and eventually all caught up, taking turns in front, going fast and really enjoying the ride.  The views were breath taking and some of the first real views they'd seen so far.

At supper our Mill guys were awarded a special mention for performance - the most aggressive new comers! And told an amazing team! Go Mill! They were also given the nickname (along with some other youngsters) of Club 18-30 I think this will stick when they get home.

A new element of the Fireflies in 2012 is the weighing of the riders morning and night; stats below people:

Ed: 85.3 to 85.1

Luke: 72.5 to 70.8

Stu: 97.7 - 96.7

Oh and a big shout out and thanks to Alex Webster for the loan of the arm warmers and Gillet!

Don't forget to support them and donate at:

Stuart Turnbull -  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FireFliesTour2012StuartTurnbull

Edward Shires - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FireFliesTour2012_EdShires

Luke Raffety -   http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FireFliesTour2012LukeRaffety

And you can follow them closely on the Fireflies Tour official website as they are now live tracking the riders - check it out here: http://www.thefirefliestour.com/?page_id=7