I think over the past few days we've over-baked it. My legs are smashed, my arm is absolutely bright red and radiates heat something chronic. The past few days we've been heading straight East into a prevailing headwind, which is seriously hard work and saps our stength. The panniers act like large square-rigged sails and crawling up a 600m peak really takes it out of us.
Normally I quite like the climbs, it gives you a boost when you scream downhill, a good view, and it's satisfying to boot. Now though, the downhills require power too, and breaking 25kph is an achievement. It makes the days longer as well. So, grinding down a peak on the granny-cog at 12kph isn't as fun as it used to be. No rest days now since Frankfurt, and we have averaged nearly 100km a day.
One more push to Prague tomorrow, and then we can take a few days as rest.
Past two days:
Nurnburg to Wild Camping: 115.6km
Wild Camping to Plzen: 91km
Go Guys!
ReplyDeleteSounds like awesome phys and some great stories - look forward to hearing the lantern swinging when you get back. Enjoy the insane calorie burn and not being physically able to stuff your face enough in a day to match it; I'm kind of jealous!
As a side note your personal admin sounds even more shocking than I thought from living with you in Morzine. Buy a little bottle of tabasco sauce or a box of chilli powder to spice up the endless tins of corned beef. I'm sure it wouldn't have added too much weight to take a small, compact stove for making at least hot brews on a stop. As for stinking your clothes out, just remember to give all your hairy bits a wipe with a flannel each morning & night - you'd be surprised how good it can feel when living 'in the field', even if you've only got cold water.
Look forward to further posts ...