The Fat of the Hand - Day 49 – 62 miles

I was woken at around 7am by Joe. His hollering at Bru seemed far less endearing early in the morning. Over breakfast Joe played me a few more Fairport Convention songs in his inimitable style that I find it hard to believe makes him any money on the streets.

As I was making breakfast I ran out of gas for the first time. It's not that easy to find the white gas that I use in my stove so I got some tips from Joe on where I could likely find some. I can of course burn unleaded petrol if I need to but the additives clog up the stove so I prefer not to. I headed into town and managed to find an enormous 5 litre can. I decanted it into smaller bottles but had to throw most of it away as I couldn't carry such a large amount of gas on my bike.

Once on the road I was passed by 6 guys on 3 tandems. They were doing a tour but they had a support van to carry all their equipment. They were a little embarrassed to explain this to me after looking at all the gear I have to carry.

Later on a Dutch man rode alongside me. He was riding a triathlon bike that probably weighed as much as one of my water bottles and cost as much as a decent car. He asked if I had any sun lotion as he was getting burned. I pulled over and gladly gave him some. In return he gave me a pack of hydrating jelly shots. I'm not convinced they did anything other than taste delicious. I downed the whole pack of 6.

Near the end of the ride I reached Santa Cruz. It seemed like a really fun town where everybody was either surfing or riding a bike.

I arrived at New Brighton State Beach, a nice hobo-free spot next to the beach. For dinner I ate macaroni cheese out of a packet. I had to add plenty of soya bacon bits and chilli flakes. There is a direct relation between the quality of the meal I prepare and the amount of overpowering spice I have to add.

I noticed my right hand had swollen up and was quite painful to use. I wasn't exactly sure why but I suspect it was to do with the way I was positioning my hands and changing gears whilst riding. It was painful enough to make me think I may not be able to ride the next day. I was unable to type my blog and it was too painful to hold my book so I had to lie down and listen to my iPod until I fell asleep.