A really tough day, even though Grant only rode 47 km as opposed to having had a very long ride the day before.
The knee injury he sustained the night before coming into Bayonne really hindered his progress as it was very painful.
After having woken up with a very stiff and sore knee and a weeping wound, Grant cleaned it up, applied some antibiotic ointment and wrapped his knee in a hot moist towel to try and warm it up to help with the stiffness and the pain.
He went off to breakfast in the hotel and came back and repeated the process and it really helped to get some mobility into the creaky joint. It was cold outside and Grant had to wear longs so he opted to cover the wound with gauze and wear his merino pants so that he didn't have to contend with any fabric rubbing on the sensitive site.
On his way out of Bayonne he met Scott, a wonderful guy who owns a small bicycle store in Biarritz. He helped Grant as he had lost his earbuds for his Bose earphones and his batteries for his satellite tracker were flat. They also took some photos together. Grant has learnt that the batteries only last a maximum of three days so at 3 euros a pop, staying on that little map we see when we log in is becoming quite an investment!
Cycling from Biarritz then became quite a hilly undertaking making it a totally different experience to cycling in France where it had been relatively flat along the coast.
It was tough going with a heave bike and a sore knee.
" I was feeling SO flat today and just completely exhausted.The previous day's tiredness added to the fact that I couldn't put too much pressure on my knee made it hard, it felt a bit like one legged cycling."
Grant- voice recording to me at the end of the day
He then got to Hendaye on the bank of the Bidassoa River which marks the border between the two countries - a beautiful and scenic spot once occupied by the Spanish but now the last bastion of French culture and scenery before entering Spain and heading up the Pyrenees.The photos are stunning and Hendaye is so visually different to what one usually expects to see in France.
Crazybikeguy crossed over to Spain and into Irun and decided to call it a day and find somewhere to sleep for the night and just rest his knee and his weary body.
He found a Pension where he checked in at about 2 pm and decided to change his dressing and strap his knee up again and wear a knee guard for the rest of the afternoon while he walked around Irun slowly for a little sightseeing.
After a Tapas dinner he retired really early as he knew that the next day would involve an early start and a day of climbing as the territory there was anything but flat!
The Pension was lovely and Grant really enjoyed staying there and especially loved the fact that it was so cheap and that breakfast was included for a princely sum of 4Euros.
His bike was safely stored in the main dining room against one of the walls as his minute room had no space.
Bienvenido a Irun!
There was a reason why the Pension rate was so reasonable which Grant only found out about every hour during the night...the main train line through Irun ran by at the back of the place...so after a horrible night of no rest he got up, warmed his knee again, buried his sorrows in Spanish coffee and hit the road for the hills!
Resilience- noun : the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties: toughness
I think Crazybikeguy's middle name is Resilience!!
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International Autism Day - 2 April