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in the race! Next time I will have a few important phone numbers on a piece
of paper with me. It was quite stupid that I didn’t.

I got back on my bike worrying about where I would stay and how I would get
up without a phone (which was acting as my alarm). As I was cycling through
the next town, I spotted a bike, which I suspected to be John’s, next to a
hostel. I shouted up to see if it was him, and it was! I decided to call it a day
although it was not even dark yet but I needed to charge my powerbank to
ensure I could charge my lights and Garmin for the final day. John let me
stay in his room - thank you! We got up at 2am to head off to the finish line.

Day 8 - 375 km

The 2am start felt surprisingly good. :) It was raining heavily at times, but
the roads were very quiet. The out-and-back nature of the course at that
stage meant that although I was a few kilometres ahead of John, we would
pass each other every now and then. The early start and the lack of towns
in this part of the course meant I ran out of food and water. It was also
surprisingly hot that day, too. After the Mizenhead climb, I was stopped by
a German couple, who asked me if I was “Paula, from the race?” They were
friends of Jesko, another racer, who had been following our trackers. They
had worked out that I would be in their
neighbourhood and had come out to look for me.
:) They gave me encouragement and wished me
well for the rest of the race. Wow! Although I was
still starving (it was noon already) I felt energised
again!!! Only a few kilometres along the road, I
was stopped by another car. Kate, who had also
been following the race, had stopped to tell me
how happy she was to see me and how thrilled
she was that a woman was still in the race and
performing so well! :)

At this point, I was incredibly thirsty and hungry,
and asked her if she knew anywhere nearby where

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