Without a shadow of a doubt the hardest day I have had to face yet! Right from the start it did not bode well, with a late start, and a very faint feeling in my legs. I did not feel hungry, so I just had a coffee and an apple to start the day. Wrong! (Although the coffee was amazing, it tasted just like black chocolate)
Thus far, one of the things that had kept me going was the txts that I kept on receiving. And receiving one in the morning, I got excited, but it was from 3mobile, and it was the only one I was to receive all day. At this point, I would like to thank all those that have commented, emailed, and sent txts, it is really appreciated.
Instead of heading east and down near the Belgium border, as I had expected to follow in England, I decided it was prudent to start heading in the direction of Rouen, my mid-point destination. This was because I'd not been covering as much distance per day as i thought I would. Plus I realised this trip would be one of the last times I'd get to see Beth for a while, so I wanted to maximise my time spent in Rouen.
Overnight condensation had formed on the inside of my tent, setting a pattern for the rest of the holiday, but packing when well that morning, except for a tear I discovered in my contact lenses. I put them in anyway.
As I set off, I was in no way confidant about my state of energy. And this was proved true, as 4km later, I was completely zonked. Half-way up the first big hill, I had to stop to get my breath, again setting the pattern for the day. I had already said to myself I would never get off and walk up, but I could stop as many times as I liked.
After 12km, just after Coyecques, I was dead to the world, and stopped off for 2 peanut butter sandwiches. I finished off my energy solution drink, and hoped this would help my energy situation. It proved to be little help as the terrain was undulating gradually uphill, and I faced a continuous headwind.
Perhaps the lowest point came after just 15km, juat after Wandonne, when I saw a massive hill up ahead, and it took 3 stops, and the highest gear I've been in yet, and such grit it hurts to remember, to get up. That was where I took the "Conquered" photo.
Looking at my route, I'd only done a third of my journey, and I was dead. I was in despair. Yet, there was literally nothing else that could be done, except to continue, so continue I did, promising myself that I would stop off at the next cafe I saw.
Having risen so much, I had hoped that it would be mostly downhill now. No such luck, as I faced massive undulations for the next 20km. In Guerney, I stopped at a cafe, had 2 coffees, and a mars bar. Then I pressed on, just working through the pain.
For the rest of the journey, whenever I would stop to gather energy to get up a hill, I would pump myself up by singing Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road, and Born to Run. At one point I deliriously laughed at a visual picture someone had given me, of me cycling along, blaring out Guillemots - Trains to Brazil.
I think part of the problem was that feelings of loneliness started to mix in with the physical pain of the grind. But through a determination I rarely get chance to press to the limits, I got to Maningham, saw the word MONT, and knew that means hill, and thought that the rest of the journey would be undulating, but gradually downhill. Even though there was 18km left of the journey, I had pasted the hardest point.
Even the massive downhill sections proved annoying now, as I knew I would have to gain all that height at some other point. But the feeling as I went down that final descent into Montreuil was great. I had reached my fnial destination, and all it took was a superhuman effort, and a flint-like grit.
But after having risen to the challenge, and settled down for the night, the other feelings started to kick in, and a plan start to develop in my mind whereby I would have an easy day tomorrow, go to the meeting, have some company, and then get to Beth's as quickly as possible.
Once again though, I laid down at night, ate sweets, drank wine, read my book, and had that feeling of contentment.
