The morning didn’t start off well, when I got up to use the bathroom, I kept bumping into the walls for some reason. I was feeling really dizzy and couldn’t even stand while I showered. Leo was getting ready for the big ride, which went through a mountain ridge and I curled up in a ball on the bed. We struggled to find a bus or train for me to take to the next stop, so I just copped the expensive taxi fare instead.

During the drive, I looked out the window to see what Leo would be going through and it looked brutal. We didn’t leave until 10.30 am, since the language barrier made it difficult to make arrangements, so he was experiencing the intense heat as he was climbing. He did it though and made it through the tough ride in an impressive time.

On my end, I arrived at the hotel and slept for a while. I hadn’t been well for three days and also didn’t have any time to rest up and fully recover, so it was only a matter of time before it caught up with me. I broke up the next two rides into three 40-50km rides to help me ease into it again.

I left the hotel to find lunch, and even though we were only 20km past the Bulgarian/Greek border, everything was different. The cafes to people ratio increased at least tenfold and I found myself surrounded by bakeries, delis and loads of people drinking frappes. Normally I indulge quite heavily after my rides, but in the past week we’ve been in such small towns, that there were very few shops. Similarly, Leo was missing more important parts of his diet, he’s a vegetarian and there have been less options for him.

Once Leo arrived, we rested some more and strolled around town. We had an early bird dinner at 7pm and we were so happy to have such a vast array of food in front of us. Fresh salad, generous amounts of olive oil and juicy souvlaki was enough to make us feel better about our day.

On the way back to the hotel we had ice cream and prepared for a night of solid sleep.