Round and round we go

Stage: 61
Day Total: 107.6km
Total Time: 3:28
Avg. Speed: 31.0km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 127bpm
Total Climbing: 504m

Song of the Day: Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing

After yesterday’s dismal outing – a failure in the sense that it turned into a very unfocused training session – I decided a steady, moderate-hard effort today would be productive. With young Canadian Steve in tow, I rolled out of camp. After 1km we were joined by Paul Wolfe. He indicated he would be riding hard today and wanted to know if we would tag along. Sure, why not. By 3km we were redlining it. By 30km we had closed a 5-minute gap to Dennis and Adam. By lunchtime I had 50 good kilometers under my belt and was content to “let the racers race”. Declining their invitation to come along for what I’m sure would quickly become an eratic hammer-fest designed to take time on Jorge, I remained at lunch in favor of a lunch break longer than 3 minutes.

The afternoon then became a solo effort into camp, though I eventually overtook fellow riders and rode peacefully into the outskirts of the town of Kusungu where we would camp. Ryan and I stopped at a coffin workshop where for only 14,000 kwacha one can have a low-end coffin. Interesting work.

Still struggling to find my mojo and battling with a bit of fatigue, I am happy that there is only one more day until our arrival in Llongwe. Due to the route changes through Malawi, we will have an extra rest day in Llongwe to eat, sleep, and recover. For today, the hotel campground meant immediate breakfast on arrival and thanks to Paul Wolfe, my breakfast was free. Our conversation during our meal was oriented around the evolution of professional cycling and the prevalence of performance enhancing drugs. I spent a good chunk of time this afternoon simply wandering around this confused little town, shaking hands with the abundant people standing idle under trees. What can I say but simply that sometimes it is enjoyable to do nothing.