Slept OK ish - but kept getting cold, then sweaty like before. Used my sleep sheet but still kept sweating like crazy - not sure what is wrong with me! My throat really hurts this morning. Kendra wakes me up early to help her with Kari's stuff - also we have all our permanent bags out and they had to be packed away again. It was a slow morning. But today we are all waiting for Scott who in turn is waiting for Dennis - however Dennis had already left which we finally figure out and so set off. Scott takes off immediately - Bastiaan we drop immediately. So ends up with Paul, Adam and myself riding together.
The first climb after 5 km just kills me - not sure what is wrong with me today - along with a sore throat i have a sharp pain lower down in my chest and a jabbing pain in my stomach. First little hill and my heartbeats jumps sky high. I was so out of breath I thought I was going to get dropped immediately. Managed to just hang on. Luckily there was some traffic and speed bumps which kept our speed down.
Paul was doing most of the work today. Eventually there was a left turn at about 18 km and we turned on to one of the worst paved roads ever. Lots of pot holes some of which had been badly patched some just holes!! Seceded zig zagging all over the place trying to find a decent line - sometimes we rode on the sand trails at the side. This lasted for about 35 km - it was good with Paul out front - he realized there was no way I was going to chase down Scott and so thats why he was out front trying to push the pace. Adam was also out front a little - we werent going that fast. We were going at a steady speed with no intentions of trying to win the stage. At 55 km we took a right hand turn into a village and got on to a very nice smooth road with the wind more behind us. We had earlier caught up with the Brams who had led us through some villages for a while - we had lost them when the road got more bumpy but they had now caught up with us again on this smoother surface. We picked up the speed and rolled into lunch at 70 km thinking that Scott, Jorg and Dennis would be in a group together - but we learn they are all riding solo. Although Jorg may have caught up with the kenyans.
We had a decent lunch and headed off together for the afternoon - a decent group cycling along rolling hills at a decent speed which was pleasing me as hopefully would shorten the day! We all took turns pulling at the front - even the Brams - I didn't think they'd want to get involved but they did. We continued riding at a decent speed without the stress of chasing anyone down. Paul did a good pull at the front and then waved me rough - I was just going to take the front when I saw the refreshment stop Sonia shouted for us all to stop. We all got off our bikes except for Paul - this was where things got interesting. Paul slows up and sits up on his bike as we stopped for drinks and I kept an eye on him as he slowly rolled along while I got my drinks. He is just down the road going really slowly. As soon as I walk back towards my bike he is off - I eat my PVM bar as I see Paul gradually get further away. I probably shouldn't have stopped - next time if he rolls through a stop I will go with him. What a pain though. So I then ended up chasing the rest of the ride - he is so fast on a solo like that. The head wind picked up again also - he is able to hide well in the wind with his slim frame he manages to get under it. Whereas I am bigger and act more like a sail - also I really hate the headwinds and literally let them get in to my head! There were 30 km of rolling hills left - I averaged 35 km/h for that last section. Of course Paul was already there by the time I arrived - I was annoyed at myself for losing those 5 minutes for no reason at all. Maybe i'll get a chance to win them back on the dirt coming up next week. But if he has to be sneaky like that ........... I managed to get a room for the night - only $10. Been trying to eat and drink this evening to make me feel better - just going to get some noodles and then have a sleep. I need to feel better - just don't know what is wrong!
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