Cycling Tour d'Afrique 2019: 19/03/26, stage 48, Karonga to Chitimba Beach

Malawi. Also known as Hot & Humid land. Heat and humidity that stick, also at night. “As if I was sleeping in a sweatbox” was a much heard phrase during breakfast. And after it started thundering somewhere during the night and I closed the rainfly of my tent, it indeed felt like a sweatbox. No more fresh air. The rain didn’t come though... Instead, the thunderclouds allowed for a spectacular sunrise over the lake...

Today was supposed to be an easy day. 92k over flat land, with a mild headwind... I did 92k before, over flat land and with a mild headwind, it shouldn’t be a problem. A restday on the bike. It wasn’t though. It felt like I rode my bike uphill all day. And I was not the only one who experienced it like this. Many people were struggling. “Like riding through quicksand.” “As if there was someone at my rear rack.” “Like someone towed me backwards”... I guess the restday in Mbeya has not allowed us to recover properly from 7 tough days on the bike. And although yesterday was a stunning day, I still spent some 7 hours in the saddle to finish the 162k ride.

So I finished todays ride in a little over 4 hours. Not sure what went wrong here. Maybe my e

xpectations were off. No easy days on the Tour d’Afrique. Maybe it were the heat and the humidity. Maybe I’m just tired. In any case I’ll have one and a half day to recover. Tomorrow we have a rest day, here at beautifull Chitimba beach at the shore of lake Malawi! I’m looking forward to a lazy day. I’m in need of one :-)