Slept Ok last night but woke up really warm - didn't use my sleeping bag at all. It was pretty early when I got up and I wanted to try to be ready to leave with the guys today. So I got everything together - in fact I ended up being ready before everyone else and spent ages waiting for them. I did some stretching for the first time for ages so that was good. My bike was all good and so in the end I decided to leave and warm up slowly and let the other guys catch me up. So I left - I knew I was going to struggle today as I still didn't feel at all well - breakfast had been difficult and I had only managed half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Was feeling awful. Did about 10 km before the guys caught me up - Bastiaan helped - he pulled me into the group. But I just sat at the back - there was no way I could go any quicker - no way I was going to take any turns at the front - I just felt awful! As the day progressed I started to feel a bit stronger and slightly better in myself. The pace was fairly consistent - I had expected them to be going a lot quicker. So considering how bad I felt I didn't find it too difficult to stay with everyone. Rode pretty well into lunch. At lunch Adam rode straight through so Paul and Horst went with him - Bastiaan tried to persuade me to go after them but I said "No way! I need some lunch" had a quick lunch and then set off. Got a little way down the road to find Adam, Paul and Horst fixing a chain so we overtook them - rode fairly slowly waiting for them to catch up - did about 20 km at a fairly slow steady speed. Starting to look a bit more scenic - the villages have changed – saw thatched roofs at a 45 degree angle on the huts - they have a lot more rain here! We went from village to village - there were kids everywhere, all over the road, all trying to wave at you! It was hard in the morning when I was on my own going through a village as I felt obliged to wave back at all the kids. At least in a group as long as somebody waved I didn't feel so bad if I didn't - we kind of took it in turns!
Finally Paul and Horst caught up with us and sped up for a bit. We followed them and then they eased off so we rode together - me, Tori, Bastiaan, Jorg, Dennis, Paul and Horst. We carried on though rolling hills and then about 15 km out from camp came the first big hill - Paul and Horst took off, Tori slowed down a little and that left me Dennis and Jorg at about the same speed - trading places at the front. I kind of got worked up a bit and got up the hill first but when I got to the top I thought "What am I doing? I don't need to ride like this - a couple of minutes is not going to make any difference. I am not going to win as Paul and Horst are way out front" so I slowed up and let Dennis and Jorg overtake me. But I didn't really care. I rolled into camp and felt Okay about the day!!
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