Extreme Vacation Fixation

There has been no internet and English speaking people have been few and far between. It does make things a bit more difficult. Distance is measured in kilometers and on the long stretches of road there are cement markers marking each kilometer and in between each kilometer are eight smaller cement markers dividing each kilometer into eight pieces; it took 25 pedal rotations in between each of the eight small markers to get to the next one, for a total of 200 pedal rotations per km. I only know this because when my quads were killing me and I couldn't stop for risk of life and limb (the drivers do not like to share the road with cyclists) and I could see I had many kilometers to go before I would reach the next town, I began counting...out loud. During those long stretches of time on the road, I have been asked what I think about. It is during this time when I can think of nothing more than getting to the next km marker and the only way I have found to take my mind off the pain is to count out loud. I know it sounds a little insane but try to picture the scorching sun, a long stretch of road ahead with nothing at all in sight and burning quadracepts.... it was brutal.

Sometimes I talk to myself when it's just me and the bike and the road. I have this little conversation with myself and it goes something like this.... "What in the hell is wrong with you? Normal people take relaxing vacations to beaches where they sip mai tais and pina coladas and lay in the sun. Not you! You just HAD to go cycling through a foreign country and you couldn't have picked a country where they actually LIKE cyclists (Scotland or Ireland come to mind)...you had to pick Bulgaria where they've never even SEEN a cyclist! Why do you have to make things as difficult as possible? What you have is an extreme vacation fixation and someday it's probably going to kill you...just so you know!"

...It seems a little one sided though, don't you think? (and harsh! I'll have to have a chat with myself sometime about being more gentle when I reprimand myself!)

I have had some interesting adventures in the few days I have been traveling but I want to share the pictures that go with the stories so will wait until I'm able to get pictures off my camera before I tell you more.

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