PBP Update Tuesday: James reaches the fourth control at Tintenia

The first control did not show up this morning on the website when I searched for James frame number. I was feeling a little nervous until Jeannie from Texas, whose husband is riding his fourth PBP, mentioned that although he may have registered in St Quentin at 10:50pm, it’s likely he didn’t get away for another hour due to the location of the starting control at the back of the Gymnase with still a large wait to get to the Start line. Feeling a bit more relieved I headed out for the day with the girls and checked again tonight. The first control proper at Montagne au Perche did not show on the website but I was delighted to see that he has passed through the controls at Villanes, Fougeres and Tintenia. Four controls down, 11 more left and 364.5km cycled with 835.5km to go. 

I also checked his training log and examined his previous completion times for 400k and 600k rides and he certainly seems to be making good time, though it is a bit tricky to assess as I don’t have a reliable start time for him from the Gymnase. If I just go by the time he swiped his control card then he is making good time, if I add an hour or so to that departure time then he is making excellent time, which bodes well for the amount of time he can spend napping on the return from Brest. By the time he reaches Brest he will be at the furthest distance he has cycled to date. So we will see how the time goes when he starts his return to Paris.

The weather in Paris today was beautiful: sunny for the most part becoming a little overcast in the afternoon with only a few raindrops felt at one point. I don’t know what the weather has been like for him, but as I type torrential rain has again started. The beauty if the sound is only marred by the prospect of James cycling in this for a possible second night in a row (wow, the sound of the rain just dramatically increased as I typed that last bit!). I am very much appreciating the warm bed I’m lying in as I write this. I will check his status again tomorrow and see if I can track down more detailed information about weather conditions and events on the ride.