When the Going Gets Tough

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The grand finale to my 'season' is a 5 week epic, combining a ride from Barcelona to Gibraltar, a reccie for a new Camino route from Bilbao to Santiago and an 'end to end' of Portugal.  I am currently just over 3 weeks in and wondering what on earth I am doing.

Dwarfing all other problems was the discovery of one of our riders dead in his room one morning.  Needless to say this was pretty harrowing and, although the show has to go on, I think that it has permanently taken the shine off this 'job' for me.

On the drive from Gib to Bilbao the clutch failed, requiring a rescue off the motorway and two days in Madrid effecting repairs.

Two days later I had to rush my colleague to an airport to be at his dying father's bedside.

I am now in Porto, trying to greet 28 incoming riders with a look of happy excitement.  Tall order!

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