14
Feb
Diary of the World Record: Day8
- By Vin Cox
14th Feb 101.5 miles.
Lonely valentines.
Tunisian roads, signs, shops, and driving are a shock. Veg & flower shops look great I had no Dinars [currency] though, so only looking. Rain on/off and sometimes tail wind.
101.5mi @ 14.6mph
Was hit by passing car.
Before getting off the overnight ferry I checked my cameras and realised that most video I thought I’d shot had failed because of new unformatted memory cards. I fixed that and charged everything ready to do better in Africa.
It took ages to clear customs; they just didn’t believe I was cycling around the world – and border agents just don’t like thinking they’re being lied to. Eventually I got out a small inflatable globe I carried, and drew my planned route in permanent marker with enough confidence for them to believe I was a mad-man rather than a liar, so they let me in. Having been held up I was so keen to ride that I forgot to exchange money…
The temperature was quite comfortable as I cycled past palms and olive groves, with cacti edging the fields, but my main issue was the vehicles I shared the roads with. “Was hit by passing car”! – I can’t believe that’s all I originally wrote about it. It clipped my thigh and arm with it’s mirror at great speed. That almost had me off, and it scared the crap out of me because I knew that an inch closer would have been messy and I believed it was bound to happen.
Mainly I felt scared and lonely. My wife was high on Mt Kilimanjaro, so couldn’t be contacted on valentines. I had the money issue all day and didn’t feel welcome.