Much like yesterday, I was woken up to rain this morning. However rather than waking up to the sound of rain, I was woken up by the rain… at 3am.
Despite pitching my tent under a roof, I still got hit very hard by the storm that arrived. It was the wind that was the major problem and after ten minutes of holding my tent steady from the inside, I decided to go outside and move it to a more sheltered spot. This was easier said than done given that I had tied the tent to a table (obviously I couldn’t peg it into the decking). It probably looked a bit odd to any passers-by: a teenager with ridiculous tan lines, wearing boxers, in the driving rain, at 3 in the morning, trying to carry a tent ten feet. But anyway, I managed it and it solved the problem. I still didn’t get much sleep though.
The rain and majority of the wind stopped by 6 o’clock so after that I was able to get ready as usual and I eventually left after 8, feeling pretty average.
The wind was a bit temperamental for the first half of the day, but for the most part it was good to me… which was very lucky because my knee was in no state to be dealing with a headwind. The ride would have been really enjoyable but my knee was the worst it has been in a long time.
For lunch I stopped in a town called Wawa and managed to find a Subway that had wifi so I was able to catch up on the Tour… Of all the years I could have missed, it sounds like this is the one to watch.
After lunch, the wind turned to a tailwind, my knee stopped hurting and the sun came out… All of which made for a very good afternoon, and apart from carrying the panniers, there wasn’t much else that I would have rather been doing. I can’t wait to get on a bike that doesn’t weigh half my body weight.
All in all, a big improvement from yesterday. Only downside that has remained are the mosquitos. For the first time my room has come with a flyswatter thing and I managed to break it almost straight away by hitting them too hard.
Distance: 121.2miles / 194.9km
Riding Time: 7:53:06
Av. Speed: 15.4mph / 24.7kph
Tom Davies RTW 
Classic a 3am Brit, running around half naked in a rain storm relocating his tent and a broken mosquito swatter, anybody reading your blog having a less than great morning will by now be rolling around the floor laughing, good job, keep it up. I still need to report in on my 2nd theory regarding your experience of the prevailing winds, this is still work in progress at this end, but good to hear you finished in good spirits yesterday.
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