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I've Always Depended Upon the Kindness of Strangers
I must not try to climb a 1200m pass on a small slice of bread and half a yoghurt.
I must not try to climb a 1200m pass on a small slice of bread and half a yoghurt.
I must not try to climb a 1200m pass on a small slice of bread and half a yoghurt.
I must not try to climb a 1200m pass on a small slice of bread and half a yoghurt.
....repeat until lesson is learned.
D's endearingly incoherent rambling when asked any questions, such as "Is that the actual spring where they dipped Achilles?" somewhere near, but not quite at, the summit of the morning's climb heralded a most spectacular bonk, with her bike discarded by the roadside as she lay in the dust. Until plied with plenty of water and Snickers bars, she wasn't even aware of the attentions of a passing octogenerian proferring a colourless, odourless greek liquor, which on later sampling turned out to be 98% devil juice.
Her recovery, aided by rehydration and plenty of downhill, was dampened somewhat by her very first puncture (R having lost count of his). All this was just prelude to the evening's entertainment...
Exhausted and hungry we limped into Farsala, to be told by the locals that there was only one place to stay, and that was back out beyond the ringroad. 5 kms later, through the deepening darkness, we discovered it was full. Full! In the Middle of Nowhere! In November! The prospects of cycling another 25km to the next town or pitching our tent in a ditch may have made our stiff upper lips quiver, just a little...
...until the good folk at the Ktima Aigli allowed us to camp in their gardens, invited us inside for warmth and drinks, ordered us a pizza delivery and offered us breakfast in the morning. For all this and their friendliness, we say a big efkharisto.
Day 73.5km (Total 2616.1km)
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