Hi folks
I finally surfaced after a long and tiring journey home, and am just catching up with everybody.
To say that I have been blown away by the whole experience is an understatement. I am completely humbled at the generosity of spirit, time and goodwill that people (some formerly total strangers to me) have shown, and I only hope that I can express my gratitude here, and by reciprocating where able.
My day went on rails. The weather was perfect, maps and foul gear were never necessary, and each and every one of my support and pitstop crew delivered way beyond my expectations. I was driven by a constant desire not to let any one of them down.
The biggest lesson that I learned, was that the BG is an eating exercise- I thought I was okay at this, but went from 30 mins up at Dunmail to 20 mins down at Dale Head. I was very fortunate to have some extremely persuasive companions who rapidly diagnosed this and enabled me to recover my energy levels such that I could claw back some time and retrieve what was starting to look a bit shaky.
I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, and to those who dispensed some great advice along the way. I will catch up on an individual basis.
cheers
max