Sadly not actually in Santiago, but the bivouac is in a dusty field north of the city. I suspect our route tomorrow takes us directly east so we’ll not get to see Santiago. I’ll need to come back. Although I thought I was up to 79th last night, by this morning the final results had me back to 86th. So the initial result from today’s stage (76th) I’ll take with a pinch of salt. The stage today was really fast and I should have done better. Unfortunately the liasion of 111k was on a tight time so by the time I had refuelled I had to go straight to start the stage. I was wearing a windproof shirt thing under my jacket but over my armour in order to keep warm on the liaison – I didn’t have time to take it off and open the vents in my jacket. 50k into the special I was cooking so I had to stop and sort that out. I let about 6 bikes by in the time it took me – I got them all back but for Tamsin who was clearly on one today. The last 5k of the stage was lined with shouting and cheering crowds which was amazing if slightly distracting. I’m getting properly tired now. I need to keep being aware of my falling concentration levels. Nevertheless, still in. Tony the wonderspanner keeps the bike in top shape. I think he’s now as tired as I am. Tomorrow is a long liasion stage back into Argentina then a shortish stage over rocks and lots of rocky dry riverbeds. 4 days left. Have Fun PC
Congratulations! Fantastic result. Hope the ribs are holding up okay. Looking forward to the tall tales soon.