Slept pretty good in last nights hotel. There is a border crossing to deal with today. It is only a couple of km to the border and the race will start as soon as we are checked through. I arrived at the border a little after the main group and go in to do my stuff. I am talking to Scott while I wait for my passport and papers on the Tanzanian side when I see Adam, Jorg and Paul badge out and set off. Luckily I then hear my name called so we are able to finish the process and run over to our bikes.we dawdled a little bit here and probably should have just grabbed our bikes and left. Anyway we hopped on our bikes with the guys probably only about 1 km down the road. Scott says not to kill ourselves by riding too fast - we don't need to catch them immediately. So we ride fast but not too fast! However we are not gaining at all so need to speed up. So now we are going full speed and realize that they are setting a really fast pace ahead - definitely not waiting for us. Must be Paul pushing as Jorg and Adam would not ride that fast first thing. Paul obviously wants to ditch us. We are riding like mad - a couple of times I say " Scott, I can't do this any more ". He let's me sit behind him to recover enough for a little surge. Luckily the road is smooth - rolling hills - but I am too busy to take much notice of the scenery!!
At about 27 km Scott started to drop me - I told him to keep going. And he made a gap between us. However slowing just that little bit made me feel so much better that I was actually able to maintain that gap and recovered a little. We hit some roadworks which slowed the front group and we eventually caught them at about 30 km. Checking the speedo I noted we had averaged 37.5 km/h for that 30 km distance. Fast going!
We then joined the group and started taking it in turns at the front. It was fairly easy going now. Paul takes the front and speeds up - then I do and slow it down - the rest of the guys keep about the same speed as me. Then it's Paul again and he speeds up. I follow but the other guys don't and so we have a little gap. When he let's me in at the front again of course I slow down and expect the group behind to catch us but they don't. We carry on like this. I realize they just don't want to ride with us. Paul doesn't like me slowing the pace so he takes the front and does most of the work. The others are just sitting behind! Our average speed has dropped to about 25 km/h. We arrive at lunch after about 1pm of roadworks to contend with. I am feeling tired and ill - the chase in the morning was hard work.
After lunch we are all back together but I immediately have to accept the fact I simply have no energy and M not feeling too good. The 30 km chase this morning, 30 km chase yesterday afternoon and the 60 km chase the previous day had together left me drained. My legs had given up. There was a climb and my heart rate went up to 175 - I decided it was not worth killing myself to stay with the group and slowed down. Jorg was going to wait for me but I told him I was fine. As soon as Paul noticed me dropping he took off big time and Scott and the others followed. I just accepted the fact I was going to lose some time today and already felt better. I just rode the next 40 km fairly easily, trying to keep my heart rate down. The hill wasn't as bad as I expected and there were a couple of good descents. Then reached the unfinished section where the road was terrible. There were different options you could take - the main road down the middle they were working on - some parts rolled smooth already and others all ground up - the right hand side was the main detour road with a lot of traffic - the left hand side was the local minor road and it was this one I decided to take for a while. It was terrible - a bad idea! Ended up changing roads quite a few times. I was in no hurry now. This went on for about 10 km - then we were back to a smooth road - but very busy - sped bumps and traffic. Now I had to think about the directions. I finally saw some flagging tape on my left so kept going. I seem to remember there should be a right turn ahead. Then suddenly I find Adam is behind me asking for directions. Not sure where u he came from as he had been in the group in front of me! So we take the right turn and I am fairly convince this should be followed by a right turn. Sure enough there is the flagging tape at the roundabout. We just ride along comfortably not too sure where we are going or what the distances are. About 4 km along the road we see the flag and roll into camp. Scott tells me I am about 20 minutes behind. Ok - that is fine!
I am very happy now. Ready for three days off! We put up our tents and I leave my bike in mine and we then wait for more people to arrive so we can get an organized ride to the hotel. The hotel is really nice - I am sharing a wooden cabin/lodge with Scott. Everything we need is there. In the afternoon I eat/lie down, eat/lie down, eat/lie down ....... In the evening about 10 of us enjoy a good dinner at the restaurant and then I am ready for bed. I am in desperate need of a good nights sleep. We have even arranged coffee in our room for the morning. What luxury!!
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