Feeling deflated (literally and figuratively)

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We had stayed with our host, Alonso, in San Luis Potosi for an extra night as Rachel had been feeling unwell. We were sad to say goodbye as Alonso was great company and full of enthusiasm.

Once we got going Rachel realised that she was not back to full strength, as the photo below of our lunch stop in a church courtyard shows. While we were having lunch, the delightful, aged caretaker Antonio came by to check we were ok and to reassure us that we were welcome to make use of the space.

We didn't get far that afternoon as Rachel needed to rest. Thankfully we found a brilliant campspot in the trees and cacti just under the mountains and very remote. The only disturbance we had was from the thundering of galloping wild horses.

Woke to a bright sunny day. Rachel was feeling good but weak from the lack of appetite over the past few days. We missed a turn and thought we could take a back road to get back onto our route and save backtracking. Oh dear. It was a dirt track and somewhere we managed to ride over a thorn. 

This resulted in a marathon repair session that stretched my patience to its absolute limits. First off I fixed two holes and reassembled everything. We had ridden less than 200m before the tyre was flat again. By this time an irrigation channel was having after water pumped through so I used it to track down the problem.

It turned out that there were 3 problems. Duly fixed I put everything together and started pumping up the tyre. I hadn't realised that the tyre was not mounted properly and it popped off the rim leaving nothing to hold back the pressure in the tube that promptly burst into several pieces. At that point I was desperate. I had spent 1 hour fixing 5 flats and at the end of it all I was left with a tube in pieces on the floor. 

After a bit of stress relief through the medium of foul language I fitted another tube and we got in our way. 

The delays and Rachel's lack of energy meant we were not going to reach out planned destination. So we decided to cut the day short and stop in Villa de Reyes. 

We have a great room in a hotel with a courtyard in the town centre. There is a busy market round the corner and I enjoyed mooching around and stocking up on supplies while Rachel rested.

We will get to Guanajuato eventually. When strength is lacking and good fortune does not come your way it is best to pause, reassess and replan rather than pushing on for the sake of it.

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

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