Today was another great day of riding although hard. We did 140 KM and over 4,000 feet of climbing. I was on the bike for about 7 hours. It was great. The weather was nice (except for the head wind) with mostly blue skies and puffy clouds. Most of the climbing was at the beginning so once we got through that it was mostly flat until we had to climb to our hotel. Before lunch I rode with Terry, Roberta and Kelly and after lunch I rode with Jack. All interesting people. Everyone on the trip is friendly and a delight to be with.
Yesterday we had a serious accident. Chris, one of the riders from Australia, had a car turn right in front of him. In trying to avoid the car he went down and broke his clavicle and three ribs. They took him to the hospital and they were going to do a cat scan today to see if he had punctured a lung. Traffic in the cities is a challenge. Drivers are not used to bicycles. I had a car do the same thing to me and it was everything I could do to avoid hitting him.
The ride today started with a 3,000 foot climb and then another long downhill. Then we had about 100 KM of somewhat flat terrain before climbing up to the hotel. The flat area was mostly agricultural fields interspersed with villages and towns.
Each day has a rider meeting before dinner where we discuss the next days ride and any other pertinent information, There is always a white board or two with information about the ride I have a picture of today’s white board below. Tomorrow is a rest day which is good for two reasons. One, we are tired from today’s ride and two, there is the ride from hell on Saturday with 9,000 feet of climbing.
