When I should be sleeping

3.45am. Sorry for not sounding full of enthusiasm but it's not really the time I want to be writing a blog. Following the euphoria od the second day completed and the 9pm bedtime, I want to be asleep, resting up my heavy legs and dreaming dreams that make no sense in a squidgy bed that feels like a giant mashmallow, but no, the internal alarm is faulty instead. Every hour since 01.21 has me staring at the bedside clock at regular intervals and my mind is racing at speeds it doesn't reach during the daylight hours.
Not that the body is behaving much better. I think the body is now revolting (it was never too pretty anyway) against the treament it's had recently, with the legs restless but made of lead and the threat of throwing up forcing me to sit in the bathroom with a towel for the last 15 minutes until the nausea has eased, it appears to be getting it's own back on me. So 500ml of water and  protein bar later and here we are. One more lap of Jersey is halfway and then it's just 5 more to the finish line and no more cycling. The middle days were always going to be the toughest and it is the mental toughness that comes to the fore now. Mind games, pesonal belief and wondering why the hell you are doing such a silly thing as riding around and around the island? If it were work that you got up and did such a phyically demanding thing, you'd console yourself with the money you are paid.
I think the fear is that not every slap on the back from the well meaning friends and strangers alike, who will enjoy the media spectacle and freak show of me making an arse of myself  for free, will be converted into them actually putting a penny in the hat going around. Some smile, say 'well done, very admirable', then keep walking, hands firmly stuck in pockets. Well - it's the sort of thing that keeps you awake at night, even though I know full well it's a personal choice to give or not and do try to remember to respect that important point. Fortunately I see those who give, which of course moves you onward and gets you up eating porrige and honey at 5am and in the saddle for 6.30. One of the best moments was just after doing an interview with Channel TV yesterday, just before the fourth lap. The cameraman, having switched off the camera, reached into his pocket and handed over a tenner! Those in the media have normally seen it, heard it and recorded it all before and it's easy to not get involved. A good moment.
Enough rambling on. No point in bed now. I'll see you after Day 3 and that means laps 5 & 6. Now go pass the hat round for the charities for me... Thanks x