Running Hot

I told Paul to go and find a doctor. First he took a couple of photos of me lying there in agony — taking photos was his major preoccupation on all trips. Him and his bloody camera! I just lay there feeling shocked and at the same time worrying that I’d ruined the rest of the trip.

Paul eventually admitted that I wasn’t a bad cyclist. I was stoked. But then he followed up by telling me that I was an absolutely useless runner and would never be any good. He said I shouldn’t even try to run — famous last words. That’s still his opinion today, despite everything that I’ve done! I guess that just proves that nothing I could have done would have impressed him. He was as hard on me as he was on himself. His favourite saying was ‘It’s just the truth — not a relative opinion.’

The Trans Europe Race went ahead without us and, amazingly, 21 of the 49 starters managed to finish the event. It was such a tough race that it wasn’t run again until 2009. One guy I talked to who completed the race claimed it had nearly turned him into an alcoholic. He said they didn’t always have food at the end of a stage but there was always red wine — sometimes two bottles a day. The drink helped numb the pain and so he took it. It sounded absolutely atrocious.