June 17th: Rest Day in Julia Creek
Day 247
We ate well and slept even better. Julia Creek turned out to be a perfect place for a rest. With a large clean well equipped kitchen and free internet we could catch up on calories and the blog. Our rest days are only physical rest days and we typed and uploaded from sunrise to sunset and In between we eat well and cook nice big hot meals. It seems that with enough time, and food, we really could cycle through almost anything. It’s amazing what a few good meals can do for moral and patience. Fighting against the wind and distances because your food is running short is an easy way to burn out.
I often think about Nansen the leader of an expedition to the North pole. He prepared his ship to be locked in the ice for 5 years. Much of his early journal is filled with the meals they enjoyed and later the exercise regiments he had to incorporate to help his men shed the excess pounds. They were locked in the ice for 3 years, and came back just as healthy, if not a little rounder than when they left. We may not come back rounder but we are certainly feeling healthy. Western food is calorie and protein rich and makes for some great cycling fuel.