Thursday 14 August 2014

It's Not All Biscuits And Beer

We eat an awful lot of biscuits, drink beer and every day it's good to be cycling in the fresh air through the ever changing Canadian countryside. However, it's hard. Very hard. Cycling day after day pulling a heavy load over hill after hill is challenging. 

Here is a pic I took of Susan at lunchtime today.  Just off Highway 132 we found an abandoned crazy golf with a bench in the middle to eat our lunch. We had been looking for a suitable spot for an hour but there was just highway and fields. 
 

We had started the day cycling well but both of us felt quite flat by about 11am. By lunchtime Susan is so utterly and completely tired that she doesn't even want to sit on the bench.  Days like this are not uncommon but it's usually me lying down and crying but we don't need to go into that here. 

When I returned after taking the photo she demanded 'I want one of these shots'. Now don't think we are on any anabolic steroids - one look at our bodies will tell you otherwise. She was talking about the energy gel sachets we carry.  

Now I'm in charge of the gel distribution and Susan calls me the 'gel monitor'. That's a term from school - remember the milk monitor? Now this was not a time to refuse her as she looked at me like that girl 'Carrie' in the horror movie. Well I'm the kind of guy who is scared of horror movies so Susan got her wish. Actually it wasn't really a wish was it? 

So after some food and a strawberry gel we set off again because no matter what you feel like in the morning or at lunchtime you have to get to the end of the day.  Today, the end of the day was another 54km! 

Now these gel shots are little miracles in a packet. They get you started and then you need a positive mind to drive your tired body and legs. Every day is a physical challenge but what every long distance cyclist will know is that the physical challenge is only a part of the equation. I believe the psychological challenge is more important. If you are not in the right frame of mind it's a real struggle whilst a strong positive attutude can drive you even when your body feels like the plug has been pulled. Every day has it's ups and downs. We pedal better in the afternoon than in the morning and some of our strongest pedalling has been when we were most tired. Put your head in the right place and your feet will follow.

So we pushed on and when we got to the motel (the last two previous nights were camping), Susan allocated the pills because she is the 'pill monitor'. She asks what bits are sore and then I get the appropriate coloured pill.  I'm not always happy as sometimes I want a blue pill and she gives me a red one (note: she kind of keeps the blue ones to herself!). 

So as I sit with another beer and Susan is having another biscuit I can only reflect that there's a lot more to this cycling lark than that. 

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