Stage 21

Started out sunny in Creteil, rode at a slow pace through the busy traffic on the outskirts of Paris, then about an hour in it started to pour!  Thunder and lightning and I wasn't dressed for it at all.  I was pretty numb and I thought the ride would only be 30km, but I rode past that mark and had a ways to go... Then after riding the entire Tour de France without a single mechanical problem or flat tire, I got my first flat in the last 10km.  I couldn't see anything sticking into the tire, so I think it was just from the cobbles or something.  With my hands totally numb it took a while to change that tube out, then I got going again.  A block later I got another flat!  It was still pouring rain so I couldn't get the patch to stick and I was out of tubes (even though I had 5 more spares in the van, parked in Paris at the hotel).  So i had to walk the last 8kms or so.

The walk sucked.  I was freezing cold and shivering and hungry.  And it took much longer than expected.  Steve-oh and Ali and my family were all waiting at the Arch de Triumph for my arrival, scheduled to e at the end of a 1.5-2 hour ride... it ended up taking 5.5 hours!  Got to the Arch for a beer and a chocolate bar at 6pm!!  Dad was nice enough to walk in my direction down to the Louvre to give me some flip flops so that I didn't have to walk the final couple kms in my cycling shoes, but I was still pretty miserable.

It all worked out in the end though.  Got to the hotel, met up with Steve and Ali, then we all went out for a nice dinner and kept the party going until about 430 in the morning.  Rest day #3 has been the first hungover day of the trip.  Pretty happy about it all though and I'll post again tomorrow with a wrap up of sorts, but we're off for dinner now. 

This is what the data says, but it kept turning off on me during the walk... 43.58km in 3:03:23 for an avg speed of 14.3km/h (I was walking much slower!).