Stage 31
Day Total: 107km
Today’s ride out of the rest day was fairly uneventful, fortunately, and for the most part was completed at a sensible pace. 14km of convoy to start the day ensured a long warmup and big group once the racing started. Jorg set an early pace, wanting a stage win (a glitch in the timing had me beat him by seconds on stage 29). He took long turns up front on the uphill sections with me pulling on the flats and descents. In the end he was awarded the stage and we had a momentary celebration upon reaching camp.
Camp was in a beautiful clearing framed by low mountains on one side and dense forest on the other. A small herd of cattle moved through after our arrival and the ever present goats bleated their disapproval of our infringement on their grazing space. Well stocked on snacks from the rest day, I spent a good chunk of the afternoon grazing on Mr. Potato crisps (fake Pringles), chocolate cream cookies, peanuts, and energy bars. A very relaxing afternoon capped off by a bit of bike chain/gear cleaning.
The highlight of the day was dinner. Early on I saw them pull the grate off of the back of the truck and start digging a small pit. This always means grilled meat of some form and tonight it was chicken with pineapple, honey, and garlic glaze. Loads of it. So much in fact that I made 3 passes through the line and there was still meat available. I ate the equivalent of 3/4 of a chicken and stashed away a piece for the morning – a protein breakfast always a good idea on this tour.
The sun set and my belly was pleasantly full. One day down, three to go until our next rest day…
Round and round we go 
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