19/03/28, stage 49, Chitimba Beach to Mzuzu

I woke up quite refreshed, so that was a good start of the day 🙂 Apparantly lazing around all day yesterday worked well for me. I got on the bike without any reluctance and the legs felt strong! And that’s how I made my way through this morning’s 600m climb. It was a good climb, with great views over lake Malawi and the rainforrest! I rode in the rain for the first time this tour, but it was actually quite nice and refreshing. And the dark clouds added to the ambience!

After the climb followed a bit of downhill and after that the road followed a red whirling river, which meant that the road had only a very gradual inclince. I made it to lunch at 70k in a heartbeat and without straining myself… And I must say that I was quite happilly surprised by this 🙂

After lunch I continued in the same fashion. After 30k i had a coke at a shop and after I finished my coke the shop owner seemed to gesture that I should have another one. Because he twisted my arm so hard I caved in and ordered the 2nd coke. I paid and subsequently the shop owner opened the coke, just to drink it himself, thanking me for my generosity. Apparantly he had not gestured that I should have another coke, but he had gestured that I should buy him a coke. Which I had now just done. I couldn’t get angry or irritated over this though, so I let the guy have his coke. I was a bit bummed out that I didn’t get my 2nd coke though, so I had another coke stop after 15k.

Towards the end of the ride I got quite fed up with the rolling hills and the increasing headwind, so I was glad when I made it to camp around 2am. We’re now in Mzuzu, and Mzuzu has a genuine supermarket. So I put up my tent, had a quick shower and then took a taxi back into town to buy peach yoghurt, eclaires from the bakery, doritos, m&m’s and cold cokes. Together with some other riders we had a feast on the supermarket’s parking lot. I quite ruined my apetite for tonight’s diner 🙂 And I bought enough crappy food to ruin my apetite for tomorrow’s diner as well 🙂 Tomorrow will be a tough day though, so it’s not a bad thing that I stacked some carbs….

Sunrise over Mozambique