Last night I just could not get to sleep – did not really enjoy the meal very much – just not what I would choose to eat – and so I pigged out in my tent – ate chocolate bars, cookies and Pringles – and then I just could not settle to sleep (go figure!)
This morning I was as slow as always but I had to be ready to be in the race with everyone else – even Dennis had taken his castle tent down before me – but I managed to get everything packed away and in my locker in time!
I felt OK, had some porridge for breakfast and today was a short day – a good sign!
I also had to pump up my tyre from yesterday when I got a slice in it and so had to change it out. We all set off together – a good group again – going fairly well over the same terrain – it was a good speed – not too difficult. It was flipping cold in the morning however – which was a bit annoying – I had to wear my jacket and long gloves and still felt freezing! However I finally warmed up so I wanted to take my jacket off and also needed the bathroom – so I told the others and sprinted on ahead up the hill – I also needed to quickly reconnect my brakes. Longest wee I’ve had in ages!! All the racers suddenly came whizzing by and so I jumped back on my bike and ended up having to chase like mad for about 5 km to catch them up. Scott told me” Yep – they just took off!!” Bit of a pain! After that I just sat at the back - I wasn’t going to do any work for a while if they were going to take off on me like that!! So I sat at the back and recovered. We were a little confused by our data – we knew lunch was at 57 km and 3200m – and we were only at 2500 m and couldn’t see where the climb was. Finally we did start to climb up to 3000m – lost Adam going up the hill. Jorg (who really wants a stage win) was really pushing the pace – a shame as we were all tired after yesterday and were hoping for a slower day – but anyway he kept pushing. However we lost him on the next climb. Finally we could see ahead where we were going to gain the extra elevation and it ended up with Scott, Paul, Horst and myself rolling in to lunch together.
We were soon joined by Adam and Jorg and enjoyed a leisurely lunch together. I had a PBJ sandwich and tried to eat an energy bar. After lunch we headed out knowing there wasn’t too much left for the day – a long way to descend. After about 10km of rolling hills where I got too hot in my jacket again, we started to go downhill. So I decided to take my jacket off, sitting up on my bike with no hands to do so. The guys got about 50/100 m ahead of me at this stage. And could I catch them again? I was pedaling like crazy and just couldn’t seem to catch up. It will be good to get that bigger chain ring!! Anyway I did finally catch them and we had a great 20/30 km downhill – great scenery, great views. Finally reached our campsite on the lip of the gorge overlooking the canyon – pretty amazing camp site – must take some photos!
We put our tents up quickly – it was an early finish so we had plenty of time to wander into town, We stopped at a place that had COLD pepsis for the first time in ages – actually came out of a fridge! Then we wandered down to another restaurant where we stopped for macchiatos and also had a spaghetti Bolognese which was so good we had a second one. We just sat there for a while, hanging out as a few more riders came in and joined us.
It was a 15 minute walk back to camp where I had a lie down in my tent for a while (all that food!). Then I decided to swap out some of the energy bars I didn’t like – I swapped 2 for 1 – they give us plenty so I didn’t need them all. I only use them on the longer riding days – so now I’ve just got the decent flavours! I carried out some bike maintenance and hung out chatting with Scott. My chain is a bit worn so needs changing, my wheel was a little bent so I straightened it up and I need to redo the grip on my handlebars.
We had a good meal of pasta and tuna and I am ready for bed.
Tomorrow is just a half race day of 65 km to lunch, followed by a short ride and then a convoy into Addis Ababa. I am feeling good – legs a little sore today – not as strong as they felt yesterday when I was able to push harder and harder and there seemed to be no pain for a change – so hopefully I will soon get back to feeling like that every day!! Tomorrow should be fairly easy and then a rest day – time for a good recovery!!
No comments:
Post a Comment