Don't overcook it.

Day 4 was another long day. I stopped for someone's flat early on and then raced to join the crew. The morning was a slog along busy featureless roads that begged for us to pick the pace up and go for it. Though my knee was sore I foolishly took it on and rode myself into the ground. I wheel-sucked for all of it - which basically means I hid behind the 3 other riders - Dave, Charlie and Chris. I sheltered out of the wind and just watched the wheel in front of me, clinging on, metering out the energy. I have learnt to breath slowly during these times and conserve energy as smartly as I can. It was fun while it lasted but by the time I got to lunch I was seriously overcooked. We'd done 68 miles before lunch which left a mere 40 for afters.

The afternoon was a climb into the wine country above Solvang. The heat rose and the knee complained even more. I ended up on my own, a victim , as Dave insightfully said - of bring slower than some riders and faster than some others. For some reason what had been a revelatory part of the ride 4 years ago was just hard this time. But given the morning I only had myself to blame. Will I ever grow up and learn? Probably not.

We stopped at a local winery where a large group of us gathered and quaffed some lovely pinot noir an the sun went down over the vines. It was a pretty cool sight and whilst I rode back to the hotel a little wobbly I felt proud of the fact that we'd ridden 2 back to back centuries (over 100 miles) and done around 14,000 feet of climbing. Better than sitting on the couch. Tonight we stay in Solvang - a strange picture-book town influenced by Danish architecture that looks like something out of a Disney Movie.

Solvang. A slice of fake Denmark in California!