Day 2: ITERA Ogwen to Barmouth Harbour

"Why is the road not deserted at 6:45am?" I thought as I walked towards Llyn Ogwen in my trunks! There were no shower facilities so I had decided to have a swim instead. A few cars peeped as they went by.

It was quite rocky, forcing me to walk gingerly into the water. It didn't seem too bad at first but I went into a wee bit of a shock response when my face touched the water. It was freezing. The whole of the back of my neck started to hurt, I had ice cream head and was hyper-ventilating. It couldn't have been more than 14C. I managed 15 minutes but didn't want my core-temperature to drop and render me helpless for the next few hours. I felt alive though, even though my hands were blue.

It was then off to Barmouth Harbour for our next transition. This seaside town was lost in the past, with donkey rides of the beach, freshly fried donuts and candy floss in seaside stalls. We were based in the leisure centre and the staff were great. It was a really tough day logistically as the sea kayaking stage had been cut short because of winds. 140 bikes in boxes take a mammoth effort to have to move about. I was glad when it was insisted that I went for lunch.the rest of the day was frantic with activity, either loading, unloading, stacking, restacking or dubbing people in at the control. It was good to see Rosemary come in, but it's important to keep the balance between supporting her and being a distraction when planning, or getting ready for the next leg is more important.

The bottom dropped out of me at 9pm when lifting bike boxes into the back of a truck. My strength was gone but I kept going. I dibbed in the last team and then headed for pizza. Yum. Back at transition, one of the competitors asked me if I was ok.....ha ha...I instantaneously remembered the aim of the week was to be cheery, even when I was exhausted. We had the hall cleared by 11pm, then I went into town to collect the direction arrows.

It was blowing a gale, with the occasional wave breaching the harbour walls and getting me a little wet. Final one collected and it was off for a 45 min drive to where we were camping. It was after midnight when my head hit the pillow, ehhh I mean my jacket rolled up in my sleeping bag bag!