Day 5 - 3rd day of cycling

Today was going to be tough. 77km (48m) all uphill.
On top of the distance and the gradient it was also around 35deg C.
We started the morning with a short distance of 15km to our first stop with was at a monestery. The second you walked into the grounds you could feel the peace and serentity. It was a small, but perfectly formed place.

After a bit of culture it was time to climb! Again, I just took a steady pace and today found myself riding with James. He made a quip yesterday about me being old enough to be his mother and today I found myself being just that. Every time he went anywhere near the side of the road I'd tell him to move in or when he learnt how to ride without holding onto his handles bars I'd get scared and tell him off!!! Despite the heat and the constant climbing, however, we did have a very good day's cycling.
Many other people didn't however. As one point we were riding with Jayne and we stopped just to have a minute off the bike. She had been listening to her iPod and when we stopped, right in the middle of the desert just 4 of us with no other sounds around, her iPod was playing classical music. I have no idea what it was but it all felt very surreal suddenly!

Another person who struggled was Kristin. She decided to spend some time in the van due to feeling weak and light headed and by the time we'd got to the hotel, showered and was in the bar we heard that an ambulance had taken Kristin, and our doctor, to Sharm El-Sheikh hospital to be checked over.
Kristin was doing the ride with 3 of her close friends. The other 3 girls were, understandably, really shaken by the whole experience. Kristin arrived back at the hotel at 4am the following morning.
It was an early night for most - especially for the guys who were going to climb Mount Sinai. I decided not to get up at 1:45am to climb a crowded mountain but to stay in bed and ensure that I was able to complete all 420km of the ride. I honestly think that if I had climbed my legs wouldn't have held out.