45.79 miles (Total: 1085.81) Avg Speed: 10.7mph Max Speed: 33.5mph

I woke at 6:30 knowing today I had about a 50/50 chance of watching the England game. Everywhere around was dry meaning no bars to go watch the game, the church had a huge TV that would have the game on but it wouldn’t finish till 4pm in the afternoon leaving me with around 50 miles to cover afterwards. Alternatively I had decided getting to Cave in Rock, Illinois and getting a motel room would be the best bet, although time was tight. I couldn’t wake any earlier because I had to sleep after yesterday plus I hadn’t called home for a while so did that. Terry & Cooper weren’t ready but Joe agreed to ride with me to try catch the game in time.

As soon as we stepped outside we knew it was going to be tough, hot and humid again. We pushed through the first 30 miles stopping only briefly for a snack and fuel but the time kept flying. 10am, 11am why can’t we pedal faster, why are these hills here! My average speed dropped from 12.8 to about 10.5. I thought about all the people back home filling the fridge with beer or casually walking to the pub, I thought about how my friends had probably organised to get together for it and planned a nice Saturday for themselves. Here I was pedalling with every last drop of energy just to try and make it into a town for kick off not even knowing if I can watch the game. Because we crossed into a new time zone yesterday kick off would be 1.30pm.

There were some long rolling climbs into the town of Marion at which point I had ran out of water, luckily Joe had a spare bottle. We were now 12 miles from Cave In Rock and an hour before kick off, seemed doable. But then the plan was dealt a blow, we were informed a Harley Davidson biker weekend had packed out the motel in Cave in Rock and there were no bars in town. As my head dropped we decided the only option was to look around town, Joe spots a cafe grill and we poke our hands in to see a TV at the back, “Are you showing the game?” I asked. “We sure are” replies the woman. I thanked her a thousand times before sitting down to order food and ice water. I can’t believe I’m getting to watch the game! Jeff from the ACA group also turns up follwed by Cooper and Terry who find us in town.

So the game was a disaster and I’m left furious with the England team after putting myself through so much stress this morning for them to let me down like the always do. Lampard up to his usual tricks for England shooting miles over everytime he gets the ball, Heskey laying about on the floor mid attack and Green doing his best to get Calamity James back in the team. I had predicted a draw before kick off, it always seems to be the case with the first group game but still disappointing. To finish the day we had to find a place to stay so went to a nice B&B before heading out to Dairy Queen for a Grill & Chill Dinner followed by a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard. It eases the bad mood, I just wish we didn’t have to wait a week for the Algeria game.