Thursday 19 December 2013

Cuba. And things

DSC_0155 This is a long overdue post! The Cuba cycle was amazing - hard, but still, it should be hard. People sponsor us in the expectation that we will do something in return. That is what we promise. To cycle 400km in a foreign country so that they will sponsor us. And really - we did! We cycled each day in 40 degree heat and 90% humidity. Everyone was completely out of their comfort zone. You could NOT train for this in the UK.

But I am proud to say that I cycled every single sweaty kilometre! Much to my amazement. I really didn't think I'd trained enough. But patently I had, as I didn't end up in the bus, apart from at the stops, where I was leaping in with gay abandon to get my hot and sweaty self under the air conditioning vent!

We had to drink non stop and we had our heads soaked every afternoon to counteract the effect of the terribly draining humidity. For some reason I was lucky and it didn't affect me all that much - and I had crisps! SALT!! Very important. They do not have crisps in Cuba for some reason.

Cuba itself is stunning. Greener than the UK, and the people much more friendly.  The landscape is beautiful - Cuba is the island of landscapes; rolling hills, mountains, valleys and beautiful bays. And we cycled through them. Cursing the flats, not the hills. We were so glad of hills, as they gave us down hills - and a bit of a breeze.

The same day that I finished the cycle, I called the FH. He was so pleased for me - but at the same time he had to tell me that he was flying home from Grenada, where he was supposed to be having a relaxing break, to be with his father. Harold was in hospital and very, very ill. That day, I was out in a purple car with Helen. And I was so grateful that I was with her. We simply carried on. Helen understands loss. Even then, I knew we would lose him. It was heartbreaking.

IMG_3670

No comments:

Post a Comment

If you would like to comment on anything in this blog, or share your own thoughts, feel free, I would love to hear from you.