Pretty much any way you measure it we are halfway done with the tour. There are 48 total days and today was day 25 and there ae 37 days of riding and today was day 19. Also most of the heavy climbing is behind us with the minor exception of the Alps.
My back pain from my accident got much worse last night and so I didn’t get much sleep. Chris and Joan said the same thing happened to them. The pain got better each day for a while and them one day it got much worse. In any case I started out this morning both tired and in pain. The weather had a heavy overcast and if we were in Southern California they would be talking about June Gloom. The ride itself was pretty easy. Five of us rode together for the first third of the ride, Michael, Dean, Geoff, Lil and me. After about 1/3 of the ride we broke up, Michael, Dean and Geoff wanted to do some additional sight seeing so Lil and I went separately on our own. My back was hurting a lot so I did not want to do extra distance today. Luckily about that same time the sky opened up to a beautiful blue sky and stayed that way for the rest of the ride.
The first third of the ride was following the coast but interior enough that we could not see the ocean. We were passing through developed areas first as we left Split and then through a series of small towns that flowed together so that there was no break. After that we went inland and it was far less populated with low hills and fields, Finally we came back to the coast and had gorgeous views for the remainder of the ride. It was an easy ride today and there were beautiful views of the ocean for the last half. Very nice ride.
I’m hoping that if I can get some rest this afternoon and some sleep tonight my back will be better tomorrow. I have been experimenting with beer therapy since I got here and it seems to be working.
There is a picture of me below that shows me coming up a mountain. Michael who is our newest rider was riding the van the day we approached Split and took that picture as I was climbing the mountain and just sent it to me so I am including it here.
Tomorrow we head to Pag. Longer ride and more climbing but still not too bad. Should be a beautiful ride.
