34

 At 2am I let go of Mountain Madness, an article I've been commissioned to write for Heartland, and went to bed. 2 hours and 40 minutes later I was up. Outside, it was pitch black. I screwed up my eyes, trying to make out stones and holes in the road on my way to meet the other guys. And then we were four.
It was also Jean's daughter's birthday (her 1st) on January 19.
And what a beautiful morning it turned out to be. The roads damp and shining, the grasses glittering, and soft heavenly light filtering and firing through the sky's wet feathery fleece.

Cycle: 2:52
Distance: 85km

It was a great ride to Glen and then a small loop after that and then playfully riding through some leafy suburban routes, like Waverley.

Arrived home quite tired.

In the evening we (Ruth, Joy, Fransa, my father, CJ and I) went to the Cattle Baron. The food was top notch, and we all laughed and got fairly sozzled on wine.

I paid a price for that. Seemed to have a combination of diarhea and constipation. Sheets were warm and the mosquitoes had brought friends. I doused them in DDT but suffered the lousy side effects - my own body trying to shut out these deadly nerve agents. Nose was blocked, so lay in the dark, unable to sleep, or breathe, and very very tired.

Fransa gave me some nice Jeep shirts and shorts, and a number of people called me, including my sister just before I lost consciousness. I also got some stuff from Fransa's mom and brother, which is quite sweet I thought.

So, 34. Someone asked me as I was coming out of Cyclopede, "Nick, are you back?" I was in a hurry, so paused as I reached the door, and said slowly, definitively: "Yes, I'm back."