In which John gets plugged , Sean produces a knife and Paul finally takes a sprint .

Hotel was a slight downgrade from previous, rooms ok but food last night and this morning was dubious. On the bright side tonight’s menu looks slightly better.

Rain was forecast so coats were packed but never needed .

Nice run down road to start of climb , the 4.5ers were saving themselves

Paul in retro jersey.

However it wasn’t long till the pecking order was re-established, Paul continued to try to keep contact with the A group , with occasional success but clearly John , does not see him as a CLS candidate and dropped him like a stone. Tim (k) on the other hand may have some potential to be a B rider at least and John gave him gentle encouragement throughout the day.

Champagne spin to tea break , no rain yet , The Scotsman made several attempts to bridge to A group without success. Our Guardian mole was at the back making notes , I fear this article may never see the light of day especially if the details of a certain colonoscopy are included.

More champagne to the top , stopping for a bit of a climbing competition

A wee tester climb

Then dropped to lunch where the gravel became more scrumpy than cava.

Then yet more climbing , John punctured and required plugging, sean produced a kitchen knife to trim the plug , I wondered if Catherine had missed it ?

Nice descent to the town , few beers to miss the rain with accompanying thunder and lightning. Forecast for tomorrow a bit 💦 oh and Paul won 🥇 his sprint to the pub with twek a poor second.