It was the first day of a long heatwave with temperatures well up in the 40s (110F) and a feel of 50C (122F) - in the shade. Imagine what it's like riding the road fully exposed – I would soon find out. It was a good road with a small gradual incline up along the river and only a few small hills so I made good progress. After 60k I began losing energy and less than 10k later I had to lie down a couple of hours to rest – sweating profusely, finger and toe cramps as well as being very dizzy. After some hours, I tried to move on but only got 200 meters before massive muscle cramps in legs and stomach had me down again.