Abandonee!
For the last 10 kilometers or so I had started to deteriorate pretty rapidly and my stomach was giving me problems. When I arrived at Loudeac the first thing I did was to find my drop bag at the Controle. I found it quickly and although it was under cover it had been sitting in water and my stuff was soaked. What I wanted most at this point was a hot shower, so with my wet bag in hand I headed to the showers. Once in the showers the water felt good but I thought I was going to throw up. I avoided puking in the shower and got outside. After that I couldn’t eat anything so I tried to find a spot to lay down. I ran into Clair again and we looked for a bed together. Most places were wet but I finally found a place under cover and laid down on the walkway. I wrapped up in my space blanket but it offered no padding from the lumpy paving stones I was laying on so there was little rest for me. I did lay there until about 6:00 am when I finally decided that I would not be able to continue. Without eating anything and no rest there was no way I could gather the strength to continue. We had arrived with plenty of time available at this checkpoint but now we were falling behind. We did not think we could maintain the required speed to make the next Controle so we made the very hard decision to abandon the event. This is the first event either of us had ever abandoned so it makes this one very tough.
Hi Lonnie and Clair...
Wow! How very disappointing it must be to be knocked out of the event by some microscopic bacteria in the stomach. Dan's had food poisoning a few time and he was totally miserable and wiped out for days. Some people even need to be hospitalized for dehydration when battling such...and so we can only imagine how depleted you much have been... and felt. But on another note, you've attempted and succeeded (for a good part of it) an endeavor many (like ourselves) would never even consider. We are totally proud of your accomplishment and know there is no shame in calling an end when you did. Better to not foolishly press on... and to ride another day. We're just glad you're safe and hope at this point you're feeling better. We have very much enjoyed the blog and thank you for your efforts to let us participate with you in that regard. Do enjoy the rest of your trip and we look forward to seeing you and hearing more about it when you get back home.
Take care,
Linda and Dan
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No food, wet drop bag, sleeping on stones - do you want me to go over there and lecture the French on how to give proper support?!? And here I felt guilty about making you sleep on the floor of the Elgin Club. Write more when you have a chance. My apetite for details is not yet satisfied.
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