I suppose it had to happen eventually!
There was no available space for the massage table yesterday so Jill was only able to do "sitty down stuff" as she called it. Necks, shoulders etc..... It's legs that I need so I had to go without. Didn't think much of it at the time so I wasn't worried and did some foam rolling before bed.
I woke up at 06.30h like always but today was different. I didn't leap out of bed immediately, I didn't feel great but couldn't put my finger on it.
Breakfast wasn't to my liking either, everything was from white flour, dry and in a plastic wrapper. Not the cycling fuel that I need!
I tried to convince myself that I was fine and today was going to be great so I put a smile on and jumped aboard Grace.
We were immediately faced with a steep climb out of town which got the heart rate going and then it levelled off as we started the long stretches like yesterday. As I got some speed up Grace began playing up. I couldn't get on the big ring, let me explain ...............
Grace has 22 gears. 2 x rings at the pedals (1 x big and 1 x small) then 11 rings of teeth on the cassette at the back. The combination of big front & little back is the fastest and I need that on the long straight roads of the ride today.
Because I was only 1 Km or so out from the hotel I decided to double back and get Sean the mechanic to fix it.
Once repaired I set off about 25 mins behind everyone else, Sean did a great job getting me back on the road so quickly.
I climbed the hill out of town for a 2nd time and then set off in pursuit of my fellow riders. I was wondering to myself who I might catch first? When would I get to them? The 1st stop today was at the 40 Km mark so I had time.
As I worked up to speed I noticed that my mouth was really dry, very strange I thought as I have been very careful to drink lots of water every day and as part of my Road To Lisbon plan I haven't had any alcohol for 21 days now. I felt a tickle in my throat and started to cough. I could feel a virus trying to get me. If this had been a training day I may well have turned tail and gone home.
As quitting is obviously NOT an option I just put my head down and got on with it. I was only 24 Km in when I came across this pair of middle aged male arses squeezed into skin tight lycra. My day was just getting worse .............. Some things can't be unseen!
I passed Michael & Kevin as quick as I could and when my eyes stopped hurting I picked up some speed. I caught up with a big group at the 1st refreshment stop around the 40 Km mark. I took the opportunity to check my phone and noticed that Joe had sent me a nice picture from yesterday. I must use that photo in my Blog I thought so here it is, thanks Joe.
The big group were taking their time at the stop so I headed off alone towards the lunch stop at 80 Km. The road was long, straight and mind numbingly boring as it ran along side the motorway toward Portugal. There was nothing I could do on my own to make it more interesting.
After what seemed like an eternity I arrived at lunch and the faster group were still there. They were splitting up for the afternoon ride so I decided to go in the second wave as that would give me time to eat something.
It was nice to have some company, the odd sprint race and conversation helped pass the time quicker and take my mind off how I was feeling.
Portugal was approaching and I realised that would be the 4th country on this trip. Hard to believe I am writing this post from Portugal.
The support crew and the faster group were waiting for us at the border and gave us a warm welcome.
Everyone decided to wait at the border for the last group to arrive, I was feeling like shit by now and really needed some medicine. I had brought some Frenadol with me but it was in the support vehicle. With heavy legs and only 26 Km to go I set off on my own again.
I was struggling big time now. I blamed a combination of going flat out the last 2 days, not eating properly and missing out on my massage.
When I got to the hotel in Portugal I was delighted to see Jill already there setting up and with nobody waiting I booked myself in.
I had been diligently staying away from social media all day so that I would't find out the score of Celtic's last league game. The plan was to watch it delayed but in full after it had finished. As I was watching the match in the hotel room the guys all headed out had found a Bar. Most of them are in holiday mode now so they should't be too hard too find. I heard them long before I spotted them.
Congratulations are due to Zander who learned yesterday that he now has a University degree in Art I believe. Check out these pictures that he took this evening just before dinner.
Only 3 long rides to go!
Distance covered 140.9 Km
Climbing 1134 M
Moving time 05:34:12
You can see a graphic reconstruction of the route here https://www.relive.cc/view/g11773011965
Summary:
Just not my day today but glad I got through it. Hopefully drugs and massage will repair the damage?
Difficulty rating 8/10