Day 8 - Xmas Challenge - LAST DAY!

Last day of the Christmas Challenge.. and what a day it was. I had 125km to complete, but after two full-on cycling days the prospect of bein in the saddle for another 5 hours was daunting. Also my cycling buddy pulled out at the last moment, leaving me with tackling the distance all on my lonesome. So getting motivated was an issue.. but I put the alarm on, woke up, pottered around getting my kit on and stuff sorted, and about an hour after I'd intended to go, finally made it out the door. Today's cycle was going to be on the EN4, the main highway linking Mozambique with nearby South Africa. After cycling through town, past the tollgate and on through Matola, the road makes a right and essentially you're into the countryside. Seeing as it's quite close to New Year's the road was quite busy even at the early hour I reached it, around 6:30. I had a slight headwind which, coupled with my tired legs and drained body, made the outward journey quite slow and tough. Mentall I was fighting to stay motivated and tricking myself into believing that I was only doing half the distance, seeing as once I'd reached the halfway point.. there was no option but to do the other half back! It worked, and when I reached the Moamba Toll plaza and turned around with a fresh breeze on my back, I knew that I'd made it even before completing the distance. The discomfort of having pedaled for so long for so many days was beginning to show in calouses and blsters in my hands, numb posterior and feet, tingly hands and sharp stabs of pain in my legs at an awkward point in my pedal stroke.

Garmin data for your pleasure

On the day I consumed 1.5 litres of energy drink, half a litre of water, half a litre of coke and a glass of sugar cane juice with a splash of lemon, this last drink prepared on the roadside from freshly squeezed sugar cane. I ate one sesame bar and had one packet of gel. After the ride I feel surprisingly good, even if my bottom is quite numb.

This may be the end of the Rapha Christmas Cycle challenge, but it's not the end of my cycling for the year. There is still tomorrow! And though I won't attempt another long distance, I will certainly be enjoying myself on the bike around the marginal and my Caracol hill near my house.

Matola River crossed by the EN4 highway connecting Moz to South Africa

This challenge has been a learning experience, about discovering and extending my boundaries, of going beyond my comfort level, of punishing myself for no reason, of being satisfied that I have completed the challenge. I feel elated.. but strangely also a bit empty. I think that's a peculiarity of cycling, that no sooner have you achieved a goal, won a race, beaten a cycling buddy, that you need another goal right after, to keep you going and motivated. Keep moving. You stop. You die.