A quick update

Well it's day three of the cycle - today is a rest day - thankfully. Saturday was excellent, the weather was perfect for cycling - clear sunny skies but with a low temperature. We had a slight mishap on the start line when Douglas found that his chain was rubbing so we had to do some emergency surgery and remove two links so we could re-route the chain through the correct mechs. Once we got that fixed we found that Shaun's bike had a brake issue...Any time he applied the front brake the front wheel would skew dangerously to the left, clearly something was wrong but we were on a schedule and patched it as best we could.

Over the next few hours we had a few wrong turns, which took the first days mileage up to around 62 miles.

We eventually got to Lyr - and stayed at a friends holiday home, it was fantastic. We sat out till late, drinking low alcohol lager and eating barbecued pork, sausages, and pasta with salad. Once all was eaten, and dessert was finished, Bob produced a fantastic bottle of single malt whisky to toast everyone for taking part. I think with Bobs creative words and the scenery as well as possibly the best and clearest night sky I have ever seen made everyone sit back and contemplate just what we were doing.

The second day was hell on earth for me - I think the other guys were suffering too. I was amazed at how tired my legs were and nothing I was doing was helping. 20 miles in I felt like throwing in the towel - my legs were burning, my knees were in pain on every downstroke. I thought I was going to give up at fiskebaksil, I decided to press on to Brastad - I made it there 4 minutes after the rest of the guys - apart from Bob who I have to thank for keeping pace with me. At Brastad the short rest helped me regain some strength however a few short miles in and my legs were starting to burn again worse than ever. I could feel my knees want to buckle when I pressed down on the pedal and had to fight hard to stabilise them never mind pedal.

I've stopped suffering from the Crohns flare up which hit me last week and caused me to have to stop on the cycle but I am still feeling its effect. My bowels are still very active so I am being forced to eat less and drink less thank I should so that I can continue cycling without stomach pain and the requirement to run to the bathroom like you do the day after a bad prawn curry!

We were meant to meet at a small town 10 miles from Brastad but decided to change the route to go to Hamburgursund. I really felt like my legs were about to stop functioning. Strangely there was no lactic acid buildup, just no energy left in the lower thighs. I made a decision to not use my gears as I had been and instead to stand in the pedals and power up the hills. The tops of my thighs had hardly been used and were comparatively rested so that helped me power up the hills and actually catch up to the rest of the guys.

I don't know how the guys kept going but I am amazed at their pace and stamina. It's testament to the preparation we have done.

We arrived at our meeting point with the van on time where we gave him money and a shopping list and provided him with directions to the ferry to Fjallbacka.

We spent the day resting at Fjallbacka Valo where the weather couldn't have been better. Tomorrow will be a true test, another 120km (70miles) and the weather forecast says its going to be wet. It will be a tough test, but I am sure we will manage it.