Day 5, May 2 - Little village east of Konotop - Sumy

110km - 465km, M Sunny 10C 30-40km headwind, A 20C 15-25km headwind, 0 shots, 0 saunas, 0 lenin, CS

Woke up at 6.30 because I knew that the day was going to be a long one. Packed up camp without eating breakfast other than a few chucks off of a loaf of bread. Rode down to the main highway and headed east. Quite chilly with the headwind and low temperatures so i was bundled up in my coat, but wearing shorts and bike shoes with socks. It was really slow going again because of the head wind, and I was able to manage only 12km/h...kind of pitiful.

Made it about 20km before I stopped along the road in a little bus hut to make soup and coffee. For some reason, I didn't see any open stores in the few villages that i passed through. I guess i will have to start taking on some more supplies for roadside dining! About 12.30, I reached the town of Terni, where I stopped in a diner and had chicken soup with bread and about 1L of juice. Got on the road at 13.30 and immediately had to climb a hill - and almost lost my lunch.

The riding out of Terni turned out to be a little bit better than earlier because they had planted (30 years ago) trees on both sides that blocked the wind. The road itself was a little bit rougher, but at least I was up to 15km/h. Eventually made it to the outskirts of Sumy, when my quick link chain connector decided to break on me (at least one half). Fixed that, and then headed into the center to the McDonald's to meet up with Alex, my Couch Surfing host for the night. Took advantage of the proximity of fast food to have a Big Mac, which was a nice break to have something recognizable. Went back to Alex's flat and had a few beers, pasta and salad. Crashed pretty hard and am looking forward to having the day off tomorrow!