Monday 9 August 2010

A day's respite

Magic is having an identity crisis because she is in a field next to Jimmy the donkey and as I frequently call her Donkey, she is now confused as to what she is and what Jimmy is. Micky, being male and immune to any self-doubt, just keeps his head down and concentrates on maintaining his impressive waistline. The paddock the ponies are in at Abbey Farm is ideal for a day off: shelter if they want it from the bright, baking sun, plenty of grass, and visible from the windows of my spacious bedroom, adjacent to a former abbey.

It's been great to have a day off without having to work. All the better for being taken out to lunch by Helen and Mark, good friends from Leicestershire, who I'm honoured took time out of their unbelievably busy lives to coincide a visit to see me with a visit to Helen's mum and aunt staying up on the coast. Mark has done all sorts of impressive long distance marathon bike rides in the past so knows what it's like to push yourself hard. And how important it is to eat the right food, often. So this afternoon they took me shopping in Kings Lynn and restocked my saddle bags with dried apricots, nuts, cereal bars and bananas. If energy and enthusiasm start waning again, it won't be due to lack of calorific input.

I had intended spending the rest of the day sorting out accommodation and arrangements for the rest of my ride, but I really don't want to set myself some tight schedule that I am then obliged to stick to, without time to make the most of who and what we meet along the way, so I'm just going to play it by ear.

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