Relax...

After the past few days, I have realised something: I was riding too fast. After a few days of great riding with a tailwind and good rolling roads, I wanted to keep up this pace and always pushed hard on the pedals as soon as I slowed down a bit. But the surface and the wind have a huge influence on how fast you can go. And I know it from running: just a little bit faster or slower and I'm running at my limit or at a comfortable endurance pace that I can run for hours. But you hardly gain any time by running at your limit.

So today I have only one thing planned: To ride slowly and relax. I need to learn to listen to my body even more. The heart rate monitor that I wear is a help here. In the first few days, I realised that my heart rate was around 110 when I was riding at a leisurely pace - and that I shouldn't let my heart rate rise above 120. I was doing really well that way and the last few days I ignored that.

Today I managed to ride very comfortably, even though I had to keep reminding myself. I tried to breathe deeply into my stomach and relax. It's actually like meditation, I'm just still cycling. I also noticed the many flowers along the way, the blossoming trees and the pretty little villages much more than in the last few days.

After about 28 kilometres came the next challenge: a gravel road that would have annoyed me in the past. Today, however, I kept an eye on my heart rate, no matter how fast I was travelling, and so I was able to stay in the low heart rate range and the 12 km or so didn't feel that long. Nevertheless, I was glad when the going got a little easier again. And when the headwind joined in on the next gravel section, I thought: OK, this is just «next level» again. Here, too, I managed to ride on slowly. Wow. If I go faster, the relative wind speed will be even higher, I thought... so I could continue to relax.

After the lunch break in Baja, it was only just over 30 kilometres to the stage finish. But now I had lost my slowness after all. On the one hand, I suddenly had a great tailwind, which made me feel like I was floating over the tarmac, and on the other, I knew that the ferry to Mohács only leaves once an hour. However, I was no longer sure whether it was always on the hour or 10 minutes later. I calculated in my head that if the next ferry departed at 16:10, it would be just enough time. This also means that it might not be enough if it leaves at 4pm. So I put the pedal to the metal again. After all, it felt great.

In the end, I was at the ferry at 15:54. It was still on the other bank, so it was clear that it wouldn't be leaving for another quarter of an hour. So I still had enough time to buy the ticket at the ticket office - the equivalent of just over 3 francs for bike and driver - and met Tamàs and Èva. They both live nearby and were on a day trip to Baja by bike. They were impressed by my equipment and were amazed when I told them about my plans. They were also impressed that I had travelled a little over 100 km. But they had also covered a great distance today and there was no need to compare. Besides, I think I'm still a bit younger (oops, comparing again 🙃).

Speaking of age: when I bought my dinner at the supermarket, I also had a non-alcoholic cider on the conveyor belt at the checkout. The cashier then asked to see my ID - a bit strange as it was alcohol-free, but maybe it was the brand - and was amazed that my 18th birthday was more than 20 years ago. I couldn't help but smile.