Garry McGivern’s cycling around the world, Saturday, 20th-October-2012, from a storm drain halfway up a mountain to Hami. 110 miles. What a cold, bleak night it was last night. I only just about managed to stay warm enough. The wind was howling through the storm drain. I was glad when it started to get light again, and the wind had died down. So I could continue uphill.
About half a mile up the hill, there was a nasty accident. A lorry with the top half of its cab completely gone was stuck on the road. I assumed by looking at the carnage that the truck had gone into the back of a car transporter. Their top deck sticks out a long way past the bottom. I’ve thought for the past few days that it wouldn’t be good to drive into the back of one. And here was the proof, there was literally nothing left of the top half of the lorry. And sadly, I would be amazed if the driver had survived. I heard the accident happen last night, just as I was climbing into the storm drain, although I never gave it too much thought at the time.
As I cycled past, I glanced at the accident but didn’t want to look too closely. Just in case there was a decapitated body in there! But I think they must have cleared up what they could as nobody else was taking any notice of the stricken lorry. And later on in the day, I saw the truck on the back of a tow truck.
Things Get Scary
As I climbed higher up, what I now presumed to be a mountain, it got extremely cold. And even with all my layers on, I wasn’t exactly boiling. It had been snowing, which had half melted but then frozen. The road was now just a sheet of ice! There were loads of minor accidents all around me. It was scary stuff, what with trying to stay upright and at the same time making sure that there wasn’t a lorry about to skid into me! It took me nearly five hours to cycle twenty miles!
I was feeling pretty tired by the end of the day. The last forty kilometres seemed to take forever. I eventually found a hotel and finished at about eight o’clock, another long tiring day.
Please Donate
Don’t forget the main reason behind my ride. I want to raise as much money for cancer research charities as possible. After my wife, Josie, died of breast cancer in 2007, aged only 42. Even the smallest donation helps. You can donate to Cancer Research UK or the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation. Click on either one to donate. Every little bit helps to rid the world of this cruel disease.
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