15th August 2020 - 16 cities, 794 miles ...... when it all goes wrong!
When the world is losing theirs, carry on my friend, carry on! Thats been the motto for today. The sun has shone for most of the week and people have been astonished at my resolve to keep peddling through the weather, but today was the real test as the rain came down and it just kept coming. Even my waterproofs were not working at this point, everything was soaked, my shoes squelched and I was able to squeeze my gloved hand to a stream of water.
After the previous night in the wonderful Hilton hotel in Cardiff we were faced with nowhere to stay, not anywhere that was going to be gifted anyway. I made my way from Cardiff through to Swanage with the aim to get 30 miles on from Swanage however the rain had taken its toll. I was about to pass the Village Hotel and thought I'd pop in and ask what they might do to support. They offered that I could use the facilities to dry off and have a shower and we could also use the car park for the support van. Brilliant, what a bonus.
So I call Claire, she is the Kindness Crew volunteer who was waiting for me at the Swansea Cathedral and shared the good news. While I waited for her to arrive, I jumped on a live for facebook and then suddenly she arrived in a taxi. I was a little confused on what was going on.
It appeared the support van wouldn't start, which was as you can imagine a major problem. At this point, I look like I've had a shower with my clothes on and now the van has stopped working.
I guess how the following 6 hours played out is mostly irrelevant however what is important is we carried on, we called people, found solutions, we simply carried on.
My Rotary district leader Tim got hold of Hayley who lives locally came out with her husband who in turn got hold of William who ended up fixing it. This simple journey did not go in a simple line, it was wiggly and confusing and we wondered about the choices being made and if they were even right, but we have a van, I am now dry and Claire is breathing a sign of relief as she managed and ran around for solutions.
Tomorrow I have to go 70 miles, my largest day yet because I have to catch up but this also comes with a 3600ft elevation but I am pretty sure that tomorrow we will also carry on my friends, carry on. How we adapt is always our choice.