We headed out to the south of the city today, down the very road I'd just cycled up. After the usual frenetic cheering of the party-goers, today's start soon settled down into a more quiet affair than yesterday. I was wearing a different pair of boots today as part of my plan to alternate them. I soon discovered that I had developed a patch of hard skin right on the apex of my left heel which I hadn't noticed yesterday. During the first ten miles or so this started to play on my mind and I must have compensated for it in my walking action as my left knee began to hurt.
Quite quickly the four of us broke into two groups and Ben and Kate fell behind us, not to be seen again until the finish. Emily and I ploughed on and slowly but surely the crowds began to gather again and grow in number, as did the temperature and humidity; they climbed to 27 degrees and over 70%, making for another clammy, sticky day where water intake became crucial.
The joy of Nijmegen was soon revealed when I was explaining to Emily how pleased I was that my train from Amsterdam to Nijmegen had stopped right outside the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam. I had been a fan of Ajax ever since the early 70s, from the days of Cruyff and Neeskens. As I said this a man was walking past and said, "Ajax, pah!" Naturally we began talking and did so for over half an hour. He and his brother were Nijmegen veterans who came from Rotterdam and so supported Feyenoord. We had a great time with them talking of everything under the sun, until they reached the point where their wives were meeting them for lunch.
As before the atmosphere in the towns and villages was electric with live music and Dutch and Europop competing (if I never hear 'YMCA' again it will be too soon). As we crossed motorway the air was full of the sound of car horns and HGV hooters, just brilliant. It really does help; you can be tired and flagging as you walk into a village and instantly the cheers and singing will revive your spirits.
Day two was again finished around 3pm and a few more beers were sunk in the Vedren under a baking sun until Ben and Kate arrived, clearly nursing poorly feet. In fact Kate and Emily were also suffering from heat rashes around their feet and ankles which was extremely sore. Mind you, so were lots of other people as it appeared common. Another quick bite to eat, a cycle home and I was in bed by not long after 8pm, ready for the early morning alarm.
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