Trans Portugal , Day 0

Well, I'm sitting quietly having a beer in the sunshine. Not nearly as stressed as the same time last year. The travelling here was not so bad and the weather forecast for the coming week looks very good. 20-30 degrees with sunshine everyday. I remembered the sunscreen this year as well.

Lots of people this year from all sorts of places. The biggest are the locals and the South African's again. All the riders look skinny and very fit and ready to race. Special effort from Edgar who is 15 kilos lighter than last year. in fact the few riders that did last year are all a few kgs lighter. Lots of very nice bikes and Specialized Epic Sworks seem to be the bike of choice again. Lots of talk of who's good but no one really knows till tomorrow.



My bike seems good and fingers crossed no issues with it. Decided to run two GPSs on it again this year just to be on the safe side.

It's very nice to catch up with people that you met last year and you will remain lifelong friends with. Very relaxing actually and good friendly chat wherever you go. Great meals for lunch and dinner and I'm currently overdosing on too much bread and fish.

I start at 9am tomorrow which is an one hour 20 mins behind the first starter. We'll have to chase each day again to see those in front. Fingers crossed all goes well and I stay relaxed. Being physically stressed means the mind does some crazy things and I hope not to repeat some of last years mistakes.

Time for a big dinner and a big sleep !!!