To the Red Sea

Today was a fairly short day with less than 90km to do and the wind wasn't too bad. We started in quite a big pack which held for about 10km. I decided to shake things up and attacked in order to break the pack up a bit. It worked well for a bit but we hit a stretch of water and mud that I didn't navigate well. I ended up having to work too hard to catch the front group of about 6-7 riders and I got ditched on a long slow rise. I saw another rider lose ground so once again I cranked it up to catch him. That cost me energy I didn't have in reserve and I struggled to keep up with him on anything that was rising but we made it to the pit stop together. A quick bite and some water and we set off as the other group came in and managed to hook up with a couple of riders from the first group that took a longer break. Three if us worked well together although I was still having trouble on hills but the fourth one was just hanging at the back. We put on a burst of speed a few km from the end and got rid of him and just cruised in together. Safaga is a nice little town on the Red Sea and there's a hotel right on the beach so I took a room to shower, do laundry and have a good rest before the hills tomorrow. Also had a nice meal at the local restaurant and a very pleasant bathroom experience without having to squat on sore legs. Four of us went to lunch in town and after this delicious meal was done. The guys were still hungry so they ordered a second round. I had two appetizers, 1.5L of water, a juice and bread so I decided to call it a day and wait for dinner.