Things Are Going Well Again…

This morning I woke up early. But it still took me quite a long time to actually get out of bed. I even thought to myself that maybe I needed more than just one day of recovery. But anyway — just start riding and see how it goes.

Shortly before 9:30, I finally set off. And from the very beginning, things felt really good. Okay, the first few meters were slightly downhill, but even once the road started rising gently, I was still moving forward easily and quickly. I thought I must have a tailwind. But when I looked at the trees and grass beside the road, they didn’t seem to move even a millimeter. So there was actually no wind at all.

After only a few kilometers, two Kazakhs and one Russian stopped me. After a short exchange, they gave me a bottle of water — thank you very much for that. The Russian also wanted to give me something to eat — a somsa. But when I said that I was “vegetarianski” (vegetarian), he took it back again.

Only a few kilometers later, a delivery van stopped and also wanted to give me water. I actually wanted to refuse because I had already filled all my bottles at the hotel and had just received an extra bottle as a gift. But my defensive gestures seemed useless — the young man simply pressed two bottles of mineral water into my hands. Many thanks again. And somehow I even managed to fit them into my luggage

The route continued for many kilometers along the northern side of a mountain range, and the sky looked increasingly gloomy. Rain was forecast for 2 p.m. So I kept riding without taking a break, thinking I would rest once it actually started raining.

The first drops of rain — together with strong crosswinds — only arrived about 20 kilometers before today’s destination. But it never really started raining properly. So I just kept riding. In the end, I arrived at my hotel at around 4:15 p.m. without taking a proper break and without getting wet at all. The few drops here and there dried almost immediately. But barely had I arrived when it finally started raining properly. So once again, I had luck on my side with the weather. And the recovery clearly worked as well! With fresh legs again, I reached the destination easily and quickly. The only thing I had to watch out for was not riding too fast — at times I suddenly felt full of energy and my heart rate shot upward. That too was a sign that I had recovered, because over the last few days my pulse had never gotten that high; instead, I simply had heavy legs. I only really realize that now in hindsight.