On the road again

Back on the road going south for 116 flat km along busy roads. Big pack formed right from the start and was motoring nicely at over 35km/hr. Everything is going well and I feel pretty relaxed looking forward to a good day and suddenly at around 35km I feel the front tire almost flat. I have to pull out knowing I can't catch these guys back up. I fix it in minutes and get back on the road, I get caught by a solo rider who helps me out for about 10 km but he can't keep the pace up as his back is acting up. I am thinking of working hard and hopefully catch up at the pit stop. I go around a corner and spot the truck but no one is there. It turns out a couple of riders skipped it so everyone chased so I filled up a bottle, grabbed a couple of bananas and hit the road knowing it was going to be a tough 45 km by myself but not wanting to lose too much time. About 15 km from the end, I caught one of the top two ladies who didn't manage to stay with the pack when they cranked up the pace. It was good we rode on together because there were lots of kids on the road that were causing havoc. Mostly it was just the usual hello, money and wave but a couple actually grabbed her bike and I had to yell at them to scare them away. Some apparently threw rocks and one even spat on one of the girls. Funny enough, it doesn't seem to be malicious but entertainment to them. We get to the town which is somewhat large and get a little lost since kids also seem to like taking the flagging tape marking the route but we quickly find our camping spot for the night which is the local sports field and it even has showers. It's a secure area though the maintenance and cleanliness is still Egypt. Let's just say some chose not to shower! I'm curious to see what might grow on my feet the next few days. So not a good result today possibly outside the top ten with a loss of time of around 15 minutes. C'est la vie... Them's are the breaks! Stuart, the Aussie I rode with one day lost over an hour the other day because of bike problems and today he made some up. We walked around town a bit and Frans, one if the stronger rider ahead of me fell down a manhole but fortunately escaped with just a large gash and a busted shoe. Eric the other Quebecois has already lost 10 pounds and he went to the toilet 7 times this afternoon. Marcel is nursing his Achilles tendon and Adrian is also battling intestinal problems. This rounds up the guys currently leading. A good reminder that the road ahead is a very long one...