Ouch!

The bicycle and I have had a strained relationship - partially because I have seen too many of them dismanteled and "improved" in my dining room or kitchen!!

I could never get comfortable on one, shoulder ache, wrist ache but mainly bottom ache! Tried all the fancy gel saddles, the ones with strategically placed holes cut out in them to relieve pressure - all the tricks.

But out here in Dahab you need the independance a bike can give you. I bought over my trusty Specialized Rock Hopper and was really starting to appreciate it......you can hear the BUT can't you.

BUT....then I took tumble. Not a bone breaking one. Not a bike crunching one. But a confidence knocking, ankle wrenching, I can go in the water with these holes in my toe (flip flops - I know!) one.

I took my concentration off the pot hole riddled roads of Dahab for a second and down I went. It didn't help that I had my poorly protected feet in toe clips, that held my foot in place as I fell and did most of the damage.

But the real bugger of it is I can't dive! I am off the crutches now and get about without a support bandage most of the time, but if I do too much -which apparently going into work for 2 hours is - my foot swells up too much to get my shoe back on.

So, patience and planning is the name of the game. I am relegated to the boat again for Sara's record attempt, but at least I will be there. And I am being looked after well - although I am sure Leif will get bored with that soon (x)

So here's to a pain free foot, a bruise free bottom and knee and a less stroppy Nikki who can dive again.

Competition

The weeks move so swiftly over here. I go from one event to the next in a haze of blistering sun, cool waters and quiz nights.

Bizzy Blue Hole competition came and went. Dahab was injected with freediving champions, yoga sessions, strings of buoys across the Blue Hole and “The Duck” took to the water again to keep them all safe.

Next came the Mini Comp, with national record attempts and even more freedivers, local celebs and newbees all on the same lines diving into the deep blue.
I was official video for the surface protocol on the first day – perched in a blow up boat in a tan through bikini and my cowgirl hat!
On the second day I swapped with Leif; he got a blocked ear on day one while safetyingon the warm-up lines. So I got to safety dive and chat to Sara Campbell – the GB champ – while she warmed up for her 75m dive.

At the end of this month Sara is going for the Women's World Record in CW (Constant Weight.) She announced 100m, and it's a race between her and Russia's Natalia Molchanova to see who makes it first. And I will be there, actually in the water with her when she makes her dive. I estimate she will be down for 3 ½ to 4 minutes; 75m takes her just under 3minutes.

She assured me that she isn't interested in the variable weight record (there isn't a GB depth set for women), sooo I intend going for it in September in the Triple Depth Comp. Training for my instructor depth in CW of 40m will get me part way then it's a mind and equalisation game to any deeper, but if it was easy............well you know the drill.