I had to take a deeeeeeeeep breath before I sat on my saddle. Oi, oi, oi - the pain! However I really loved the 1st section of this day. I felt so strong and rode hard. It was lots of single track which I could manage. There were a few sections of hike-a-bike as well which I really was fine with - slow but quite strong. Sadly Doug lost his GPS somewhere on this section. He felt quite naked!
Once we got onto the dirt road heading towards Glen Edward I sat on Doug's tail and we made good time to the soup stop. Colleen was really struggling with her knee and rode quite slowly.
The soup at Glen Edward was delicious - meaty and full of veggies and yummy! I sank my sore butt into a divine soft chair and munched away quite contentedly.
It was a long dirt road after Glen Edward. My forearms were so sore from the rocky road and the speedy down hills hanging onto the brakes. If I went too fast my eyes got too blurry then I couldn't make out the stones so I had to keep on slowing down. I was battling to even keep the rest of the guys in my sight. They would stop every now and then but when I caught up they would continue. I kept on reminding myself it was an individual ride but at the top of one of the hills as I arrived they continued. I burst into tears and was trying furiously to calm myself. Chris was there and thought I was upset coz I thought we were lost. I didn't want to say what my issue was but Doug knew. I struggled my way across a grassy plain - it was very bumpy and the single track quite hidden. I was feeling sorry for myself and feeling foolish. I kept on feeling like I wasn't good enough coz I wasn't fast enough to stay with everyone. Anyway these thought patterns kept on going through my head. I tried to swing them away and find a more positive pattern but it eluded me. I suspect my blood sugar was also dropping and I wasn't aware of it. But suddenly after catching my foot in a rut or not being able to get going or something I burst into LOUD uncontrollable sobs. Dearie me! My darling husband tried immediately to give me something to eat and wanted to know if I was carrying a goo. I couldn't remember and was simply too distraught to be sensible about anything. He told me to wait he was going to catch the others and get a goo from someone. I slowly pushed my bike and he sped ahead. He eventually came back to me and said just as he caught them they rode away. I recall this made me cry some more!! Silly girl. Anyway he tipped out my back-pack in a bid to find my goo. I got into lots of trouble for carrying too much stuff and he took most of the stuff into his bag whilst I ingested the goo into my gullet! Chris got word of my meltdown and also came speeding back with goo in hand. I gave myself a good talking to and also an option - I could, at anytime, pull out. I was not without choices but I would need to make it to where the car was next waiting for us. I reminded myself this was a choice I was making. It was not a punishment or something with dire consequences. I also reminded myself QUITTING IS FOREVER - PAIN IS PASSING.
By the time we got to Ollie at the next little rest stop (probably 30 minutes away) I knew I was not stopping. I had a restorative cup of tea and a couple of biscuits. I do believe that a cup of tea cures most things and if it doesn't work wine is sure to do the trick!
Ollie said that Masakala was not very far away and we would get in in daylight. It was about 16kms to the end. They were really long and unfriendly kms. My forearms were in such pain going down the hills, my hands were bruised from the hectic bumps, my backside was so painful to sit on, my legs were so tired that standing and peddling was also not an option. Gosh it was long. I just kept on praying for the end - which of course came along in due course. What a day!
- 90.4km
Distance
- 8:18:04
Moving Time
- 1,578m
- 68W
Estimated Avg Power
- 2,026kJ
Energy Output
| Avg | Max |
|---|
| Speed | 10.9km/h | 45.4km/h |
|---|
| Heart Rate | 137bpm | 161bpm |
|---|
| Calories | 2,259 |
|---|
| Temperature | 23℃ |
|---|
| Elapsed Time | 12:48:13 |
|---|
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