Salta to Talapampa

It felt brilliant to be back out on the bike today and I've gotta say I didn't realize how much I'd missed riding, till today.

Initially, well till lunchtime at least, we ostensibly rode as a single group, with everyone I think feeling very relaxed and extremely well nourished as a result of having spent the last two days in Salta.

No-one was seemingly in the mood for pushing the pace too greatly rather there seemed to be a desire to simply chat with one another as to where we'd all been, what we'd eaten and so forth.

T'was very pleasant it was.

It also served to distract us from the fact it was getting increasingly hotter as the day wore on. Seriously folks, it was warm when we'd started out but by the time it got to midday it was hot. Forty degrees according to my Garmin, though I suspect closer to low to mid thirties.... Following lunch, which included a bottle of Fanta purchased from a little shop across the road from our designated lunch stop the pace (and temperature) got a little hotter and hence the peleton became no more.... At this point I've got to be honest and say my speed became a crawl as we rode towards the campsite.

Whilst I'm only guessing, I'm going to say it was the temperature, which by two o'clock was apparently tipping close to forty degrees, that had my heart rate going through the roof, despite my endeavours to lower my cadence (number of pedal revolutions per minute), slow my cycling speed and to generally "relax". T'was a bit scary I've got to admit. Just hope I don't suffer from the heat like that again, tomorrow or ever again for that matter.