Ever woken up and felt completely immobile? Felt like your muscles have melted into the ground below leaving just a skeleton (with hair)? This is how I felt this morning. I had a good 12 hour sleep which I was happy with but was still drained and sitting up only made me dizzy. How am I going to do this? I thought. I was really struggling.
I packed everything away and pushed Nigel back up onto the highway. The weather was overcast so at least I wasn't sweating through 30 degrees like yesterday but the headwind was giving me the shivers. The highway winds in and out of some very close mountains and this causes a Venturi affect that blows strong winds along the valleys. Unfortunately again these winds were not blowing the way I wanted and I was moving along at a pathetic pace.
After an hour I knew today wasn't going to last that long. My legs were gone from the moment I woke up and the only thing that wasn't giving up more than me was the wind. I stopped, I had to eat something I thought, this is just ridiculous. I had an energy bar and a fanta, I needed sugar, I needed a boost. The sugar rush lasted about 5 seconds as i returned to a long incline that I had spent most of the hour on. That's when I made the decision that I was better off stopping for the night eating something substantial and just dealing with the consequences either during the night or tomorrow morning. One thing was for sure, I was a danger to myself carrying on in my state and if one of the dehydrated truck drivers was in the same way then the result doesn't need to be thought about.
After a measly 20miles I found a little grassy area away from the highway. By the amount of cow poo around it I guessed it was used for grazing now and again. It was perfect for me though, gutted I was stopping but in all honesty, too tired to care. I was happy to find a field that if I had to get up in the middle of the night, I wouldn't be disturbing anyone or get a shock visit from anyone else.
I put the tent up, it was around 2:45 at this time and I just collapsed into it. Nigel was tucked away and I was just happy to be safe. As I lay there dissolved, the rain began to patter on the tent. Amazing I thought, I love the sound of the rain on the outside of the tent and the fact I wasn't struggling to cycle in it took the disappointment away from my decision to stop so early.
The rain sent me to sleep and i woke up every now and then to the sound of cowbells. The rain was still coming down so I didn't bother poking my head out of the tent to confirm i was ok to camp where i was with the farmer. He couldn't of been too annoyed though, as when i woke up properly there was nobody around, the farmer must've just herded them past me!
I made up a half decent sized of pasta and then I finished off a packet of biscuits. After dinner I lay there awaiting the rumbles from a grumpy stomach. It's very annoying when you can't really control how productive your day is going to be because your stomach is being a temperamental little so and so. Thoughts of taking a b-line for the port entered my head today because I'm getting fed up now. I know I will regret not taking my time when I'm fully fit but its very hard to want something to last longer if that something involves you feeling horrible and not only that, having to push against a wind that is unforgiving and endless.
At least my empty legs have been filled and only time will tell to see whether it will last till the morning. If it doesn't then I will be creating a man nappy or some sort of saddle contraption that connects to a sterilised tank. I am not going without food anymore, its bad enough when Beirdre starts getting involved when I'm eating an ice cream. I have never had to use a napkin so much when eating an ice cream, normally my tongue is sufficient. However, now Beirdre has a moustache that resembles a poorly thatched roof of a bus stop I had to clean her with every lick. I never actually ended up eating the ice cream the other day, most of it was mopped up in the napkin!
One of my favourite things to do is eat, and at the moment I have two things stopping me from do it! One I can't control and the other I'm taking Lopermid tablets for. (Don't even think about telling me to lose the face hair, i maybe annoyed with her but i understand that nobody's perfect!)
Short day "cycling" but let's hope the long rest has helped more than anything else!
No comments:
Post a Comment