"I'm really quite surprised that you haven't taken ' a leaf out of my book'; you should be choosing items with a low glycemic index." I said to Matt and Patrick, as I licked the last of the fat-free yoghurt from the back of the spoon and laid it carefully on the top of the banana skin, whilst observing them tuck into their 'belly-busters.'
"Well, I only had cake!", protested Neil, as he then proceeded to lick the tip of his index finger and use it as a tool to collect the last of the crumbs from the table.
"Yes, but John's (De Paulo) mum makes it and it's full of butter!", I said
I looked across at Matt and thought he somehow looked a bit different from a few minutes ago - and then it 'dawned' on me: "Are you wearing lip gloss?". (I only bat for the 'home team', so it's purely a observation, but he did look more 'snoggable'.)
"That's not lip gloss!", said Patrick with a triumphant look, as he wiped bean juice off his chin with the back of his hand. "While you were in the 'loo' he asked John to put goose fat on the complimentary toast instead of butter!"
Just then my phoned 'buzzed' - it was Mal C letting us know that he wouldn't be joining us - as he was tired and wanted to go home. It had been a while since we had seen him. I was relieved that he hadn't got lost this time, but had suffered a puncture. Mal is in the same exclusive Geolexic (this is a term that I 'coined' to describe my condition) club as me and Steve C. Steve will insist that he has the same natural instincts as a homing pigeon, but try separating him from his GPS and you will get an instant response: "WAH!,WAH!" - similar to the way a baby reacts when you remove it's dummy.
Earlier....Cooden Beach Station 08:00.
It never ceases to amaze me the selflessness of cyclists who will suffer the pain and deprivation of getting on their bikes to cycle vast distances, in the name of a good cause, when they would much rather be at home mowing the lawn, washing the car and trying to fix something that they've been 'nagged to death' about all week.
"What is it this time?, said Neil I don't normally take part in this kind of minor event, now that I'm an 'Ultra."
"It's to raise money for the Lesser Spotted Newt, they've been seen spawning in this area recently and there's a need to build a sanctuary for them", I explained.
"Oh, well, fair enough, but I won't be 'hanging around' you know. I'll be setting a 'cracking' pace."
So off we set - Neil, Patrick, Matt and myself - meeting up with Mal C at the top of Galley Hill.
"He's right! - he doesn't hang around", said Patrick.
We were all struggling to keep on Neil's wheel; as he seemed to be on a mission to get as many miles 'under his belt' as possible before he was 'needed' at home. We stayed as a group through the first two checkpoints, but then Neil suffered a puncture at Herstmonceux Castle and bade us:"Carry on without me chaps, I'll catch you up". Sad, but secretly relieved we pushed on at a more sensible pace.
We collected our medals, after finishing the first 'lap' without incident, and started 'lap' two.
By the time we reached Spooky Hill, Matt was complaining about having tired legs and feeling 'bloated' from the sausages (he also mentioned - in passing - that he had a 'numb knob', but we chose to ignore this.). We gave him some assistance until he felt better, and we made our way back to Hastings for the second time.
"Would you like to collect your medals then?", said the nice lady by the medals table.
"No, it's o.k, we got them last time, we're doing it twice", I said.
"Most people only do it once, but we did it twice", said Matt
"Oh, that' s really good of you", she said.
"I don't suppose you get too many people doing it twice - must be quite unusual", said Patrick
"Look, don't keep on about it, I get the picture! - what do you want a medal?"
"No, it's o.k, we got them last time", I said
Bearing in mind the monumental effort of Nigel this week (not forgetting JV & JSs mammoth rides), our century was 'small fry' but we didn't want to let it go unmentioned -it was only the second century for me, Patrick and Matt.
Having 'dipped my toe' into the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range whilst cycling in Majorca I have some appreciation of what it must have been like for Nigel. Even more impressive is the fact that he did it all whilst wearing Aldi gear - that cheaply made gusset must have been 'chaffing like a b@stard!'
Peter Buss
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| "Pete, Patrick and Matt posing by the toilets at Glynde Gap after a mega day's cycling" |
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