Well today was my birthday and quite a birthday is has been and lovely to receive lots of good wishes from home. Another very hard day in the saddle, I always knew the Pyrenees were going to be a tough nut to crack and so it is proving to be. Today's ride took in the gruesome ascent of the Port de Bales which featured as the 2007 Etape du Tour and I believe also caused many problems for the riders then, hardly surprising, it's grim.

Getting tired now and am well and truly ready for the rest day. Tomorrow is another extremely difficult day with two HC ascents and 2 Category 1 ascents and it is going to be a matter of just trying to get through it no matter how long it takes. I think it's going to be around 12 hours in my fatigued state.

Some lovely scenery in the earlier part of the day when it was sunny but couldn't see a thing from the high point of the day, the Port de Bales, as there was thick fog. The descent was absolutely freezing and I was really glad to get to the bottom and get the recovery started. SKINS RY400 compression gear on, high carbohydrate dinner with some protein, and then some sleep but as always not enough of it.

This has certainly been an unusual birthday but one where I do feel that I have achieved something. It is of course nice to spend one's birthday with loved ones but that was not to be the case this year, celebrations are on hold in the hope that I will complete this adventure safely.

Signing off now to get some rest, thank you for checking in wherever you are.

Photographs from Today:

View towards the Pyrenees from the route of The Tour.

Superb naturally formed cavern that now carries a road.

Village climbing towards the Col de Portet d'Aspet.

Memorial to Fabio Casartelli.

Today's Weather:

Very hot this morning but then clouded over. Thick cold fog on the upper parts of the Port de Bales, freezing cold and wet descent :-(

Ride Time: 11:20 hh:mm

Work Done: 4291kJ

Training Stress Score: 295

Intensity Factor: 0.554

Normalised Power: 169W

Variability Index: 1.36

Ride Distance: 115 miles

Elevation Gain: About 12000feet

Maximum Power: 501W

Average Power: 124W

Average Heart Rate: 111bpm

Average Speed - True: 10.2mph

Acute Training Load: 246.8

Chronic Training Load: 145.5

Training Stress Balance: -99