After breakfast at an amazing cafeteria I left Cadiz on a small ferry taking me to El Puerto de Santa Maria. It was a quick trip but the only ferry available was at 11:15 meaning a very late start on the Camino. After the cool boat ride the countryside was dusty, agricultural and uneventful with the path often following aside busy roads.
With light and sandy soils, many of the plants I found were familiar from home like chicory and purple viper’s bugloss. After a couple of hours of hot sun I arrived and checked into my hotel and showered in cool water.
Had a prawn salad lunch then went to find the cathedral which is always the heart of small spanish towns. Unfortunately my wheels died on me in the hot afternoon sun. I was looking for a good place to photo shoot my wheels, on trying to start Genny again, it was having none of it. All of my confidence disappeared in an instant, leaving me with an immovable wheelchair in the baking sun.
I know a lot about how Genny works and there are some usual things that will stop it from working. If the ground is not level or for some reason one of the Segway footpads is stuck this will inhibit the legs from lifting. I could not find a logical answer but at one point it started working again and I made it back to my hotel.
With my confidence in tatters I have decided to stay another night here to reassure myself things are working properly. Things will always go wrong but to not know why is worrisome. My Genny is now 8 years old with 21,000k on the clock and I am nervous.
My hotel is great though and the town is lovely, can’t wait to see more of it tomorrow.
Gosh. What a start! Any journey is nerve racking and to run into trouble early on will inevitably knock your confidence but regrouping and taking time out to check on Genny sounds exactly the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be thinking of you and hoping all goes well in the next few days, even though you have no idea who I am !! :). I’m Sue’s sister in Law, married to Jon, Mike’s brother. Sue might have told you that l’ll be walking the Route Frances Camino starting in September so am keen to see how you get on in Portugal. Good luck. I have faith that you’ll be up and at it very soon.
Hey David, Sorry to hear about your difficulties with Genny on day 1, especially having to deal with the problem in the hot, hot sun. It would be so reassuring to be able to work out what the cause.was but I hope she'll behave properly for the rest of the trip and that your confidence will return. I so admire your adventurous and independent spirit.
ReplyDeleteHey David, So sorry to hear about the problem with Genny on day 1. Really rough trying to put it right in the hot, hot sun and not being able to work out what the cause was. Hope your confidence returns soon and the rest of the trip is trouble-free. I so admire your adventurous and independent spirit.
ReplyDeleteWhat rotten luck, sorry to hear this David. I hope Genny is working for you now, and you can get on the road! Lovely to hear about your trip
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