Friday, 2nd February 2007

To: Desert Camp #9

Passed NO villages today and were told in advance that we wouldn't. That's o.k., as we reach Khartoum tomorrow and I look forward to that! Since I knew we'd pass nothing (other than desert, which, o.k., is beautiful, but doesn't talk and can easily be seen at a speed of 15 or so miles an hour), I decided to see how hard I could push myself today.

Pushed as hard as I possibly could for the whole entire day. Have never done that before in my entire life. My view of cycling is generally that "it's all about the stops." But so many people on this tour (not all) are so competitive and racing, that the "bug" is starting to seep in. So off I went in the morning. HARD. Tried to have no breaks the whole day, other than 5 minutes at the lunch truck. Left: 7:20 a.m. Arrived in camp: 1:55 p.m. Total time: 6 hrs 35 min. Thought I was going to die. The morning was fine, up to lunch. In fact, it was really neat because, for the first time ever on this trip, I found about 8-10 others of our group when I arrived at lunch! And the tuna fish wasn't all finished! First time that's happened, as I usually arrive alone, or there might be one other slowpoke there, who'se about to leave. The others were surprised to see me. After lunch, things went fine for another 25 km or so. I rode with a fellow cyclist named Yon (from Netherlands) whom I've never ridden with before because he's usually waaayyyy ahead of me. But then ... that was it. Still 35 km from camp and I died. Told Yon to continue on, I had to go slowly. Rode about another 4 km, slllloooowwwwllly. Looked for shade but couldn't find any, so I just pulled over to the side of the road, layed my bike down, and flopped on the sand. Put my helmet over my face to try to keep the sun out. After a few minutes, Patrick (S. Africa), Andrew, and Remy came by. They asked, "You o.k.?" I just put up my thumb and said, "Fine." They asked, "You need water?" I said, "Nope." So they continued on. After some few more minutes, rose myself and headed to camp, as HARD as I could, for another hour and a half or so. Finally, finally, finally, saw the "finish line" flag and camp! At first I thought it was a mirage (honestly, I really did). But when I realized it really was camp, I found the last gumph of energy that I didn't know I had and FLEW into camp! Everybody who was already there (which was most of them, despite the fact that I was riding as hard as I possibly could today) clapped and cheered!

Flew into camp, put the bike down, sat down, thrust off my right shoe, and poured water from my water bottle on it. My foot was burning up. If you're not a cyclist (like me, heh heh), you wouldn't understand burning up feet. Everybody laughed. Later, as we sat around, Andrew told the story of passing me, lying flat-out in the sand with the sun baking on me, after lunch. I laughed and said, "Yeah, and when I said 'fine', that was a big fat lie. But my problem wasn't anything you could do anything about." People laughed. Many of these friends of mine really are into racing and loving it. Several of them, throughout the evening, gave me big pats on the back and asked, "Didn't that feel good?" All I could think was that it was nice to know I could do it if my life ever depends on it, but I will NEVER do that again!

--------------- TODAY ---------------- TOTAL
Cycled --------- 128 km (80 mi) -------- 1,565 km (969 mi)
Sagged --------- 0 ---------------------- 314.5 km (207.5 mi)
Total ----------- 128 km (80 mi) -------- 1,880.5 km (1,176.5 mi)
In Saddle ------ 6 hrs 4 min ------------- 93 hrs 19 min
Ascended ------- 949 feet ---------------- 14,966 feet

Thursday, 1st February 2007

To: Desert Camp #8

Amazing tail winds today! Flew! Otherwise, more desert. Nothing special, other than the beauty of the desert. Nice, paved road. Lately, days are cooler than they were last week. Headed away from the Nile yesterday, and won't catch up with it again until Khartoum. This may explain why we didn't pass any neat villages today.

Biggest thing of note is that we passed 3 bus stops today. These are places that buses on long journeys stop so that passengers can get food and drinks. Don't think in terms of bus stations like Greyhound bus stations from back in the U.S. No. Think of a few bamboo structures in the middle of a desert, on the side of the road. One of the structures may be used as a kitchen where they prepare bean ("foul") to serve with bread. You can also buy juice, water (bottled), or tea. The smoking pipes (shishas) that I saw in Egypt are not so common in Sudan but I saw them at one of the bus stops. They then usually have tables outside in the shade, where people can sit and eat. That's the picture you must have when I talk of a bus stop.

Anyway, I stopped at all 3 bus stops. The first was in the morning, and I happened to be riding with Tom (from U.S.A.) at that time so we stopped together. Nothing special happened. At the 2nd, after lunch, I was alone. People were a bit friendly. Of note were 6 bearded men, all wearing the long white attire that they often wear here, all eating beans and bread from the same plate, while standing (not sitting) around a table. At the 3rd stop, I caught up with about 8 of our riders.

Speaking of eats, I forgot to mention something that happened in Dongola on our rest day. Abdil, our Sudanese guide, took me to lunch to a very local place. Guess what we ate? Camel liver. It was good and spicey! I loved Dongola! Will also miss Abdil, as he is becoming a nice friend. He's a bit older, with grown children. Nice man.

---------------- TODAY ------------- TOTAL
Cycled --------- 129 km (80 mi) ------ 1,437 km (889 mi)
Sagged --------- 0 --------------------- 314.5 km (207.5 mi)
Total ----------- 129 km (80 mi) ------- 1,751.5 km (1,096.5 mi)
In saddle ------- 5 hrs 33 min ---------- 87 hrs 15 min
Ascended ------- 637 feet --------------- 14,017 feet

Wednesday, 31st Jan 2007

To: Desert Camp #7

Great day! Started off early. Woke early and didn't know what time it was because I couldn't see because I didn't have my head torch. We all wake before dawn anyway, so waking in the dark was normal. Sky was majestic with stars. Saw Southern Cross in a position I'd never seen it before in Uganda.

The first people started passing me after an hour. Eventually, Sarah and Alice showed up and I rode with them most of the day. They are faster than me, but they slowed down a bit and I managed to keep up. Eventually, Marcus (from Germany?) joined us. About 50 km today was on what I kept refering to as an obstacle course road. A lot of getting on and off bikes. The rest was smooth tarmac - yeeaahhhh!

Not a lot of interaction with locals, though some at the truck stop where we hung out for about an hour. BUt I liked riding with our group.

THEN, got to camp, started setting up the tent, and ... found my head torch!

THEN, played backgammon with Abdil (this is becoming a nightly routine). He almost always beats me, but tonight I won 6 games out of 10! This has just reminded me ... I don't think I have a single picture of Abdil. Will get one soon, as he won't be with us for long - only until we leave Sudan.

---------------- TODAY --------------- TOTAL
Cycled --------- 110 km (70 mi) -------- 1,308 km (809 mi)
Sagged --------- 0 ----------------------- 314.5 km (207.5 mi)
Total ----------- 110 km (70 mi) --------- 1,622.5 km (1,016.5 mi)
In saddle ------- 6 hrs 21 min ------------ 81 hrs 42 min
Ascended ------- 730 feet ----------------- 13,380 feet

Tuesday, 30th Jan 2007

To: Desert Camp #6

Really, really bad day so won't write much. Who wants to remember bad days? Felt tired of doing a "solo tour", but can't keep up with anybody. Tire was in such bad shape it looked like it was going to burst, so had to board the truck at lunch. Finally, lost my head torch.

--------------- TODAY --------------- TOTAL
Cycled -------- 67 km (42 mi) --------- 1,198 km (739 mi)
Sagged -------- 40 km (25 mi) --------- 314.5 km (207.5 mi)
Total ---------- 107 km (67 mi) -------- 1,512.5 km (946.5 mi)
In saddle ------ 3 hrs 20 min ----------- 75 hrs 21 min
Ascended ------ 350 feet ---------------- 12,650 feet

Response to Monday's Comments - 29th Jan, 2007

Well done, Leeps! Managed to stir up your viewing audience! Get some passion in there. I really thought my dear Aunt Janet would be the first with an outcry on that last posting, but not a peep from her. That is so completely not possible, that I'm thinking she may not have read it yet.

Funny, I thought, how Jessica's view was so non-chalant. I bet most of my American friends views weren't so non-chalant.

Thanks for writing in, keep 'em coming.

Photos - Wadi Halfa to Dongola, Sudan

We are about three-quarters way from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, when I took a walk around the boat and snapped this photo. Lots of people, plus our bikes are all there. People on the boat were very friendly, as I always find in these crowded conditions. I found a few Sudanese playing cards at one point and they asked me to join - I just watched because I didn't understand the rules. But when I told them that I used to work in El Obeid, one of them said, "El Obeid! That's my home!" and then he exclaimed "Wala!" as though I were his long-lost sister.




I thought this next snap (left) was a really neat one, looking out the front of the boat, as we approach Wadi Halfa.

For those who are a bit curious how we, the cyclers, live, here it is in its glory. We have to fit our lives into those red boxes you see - sleeping bag, tent, everything. We then load our red boxes onto that big white truck you see in the back there. That other truck, the smaller one, that is the one that we see about mid-way through the day's journey and think to ourselves, "Al hamdullillah! Lunch!" This picture was taken at our first camp site in Wadi Halfa, after we got off the boat and finally got through customs.

For the next 2 days after leaving Wadi Halfa, our views were as shown here, from dawn till dusk. Sometimes the road was about like this, sometimes it was deep sand. That's my bike you see there. You can't see me as I'm taking the photo. Quite beautiful, really, the desert. But I was happy when, on day #3, we finally came to some villages, life, and people!

... And that is when I met my little friend and his brother in Abri-mu-Farka, and their mother (the school teacher) asked me to send her the photo, which I'll try to do and hope it reaches them. That door you see in the back is the one I described in that particular posting, when I wrote that, one by one, the family members kept running back through the door and excitedly yelling for others to come.

And the next two photos are the kids and women that I met when I got my ride on the donkey cart. Unfortunately, no photo of me on the cart. I tried to give the kids the camera and show them how to do it, but it didn't work out. However, if you look closely, you'll see my bike handlebars as I took the snap of the kids off the end of the cart. I was on the cart itself when I took that one.

Here is another man on a donkey. He came around and was curious at one of our lunch truck stops. He seemed to like it when I showed him his picture.

And then we passed through ... more desert. And then, to my beautiful amazement, I crested a hill at one point, and my eyes caught this stunning view of the Nile River! What made it so spectacular is that I'd seen sand, sand, nothing but sand, the whole day long. And then ... GREEN!
















Every village we passed had at least one shelter where they kept urns of community water. It was amazing, in that hot, hot weather, how cool (cold, almost) that water was! Sometimes, I'd take a half cupfull and pour it over my head. Finding these water urns was like finding glorious little oases because I knew I'd be cool for about 10 minutes, until the water evaporated.

Dongola! The best! Here is my friend, the camel, the one I found in the downtown metropolis of Dongola.

And we can't leave Dongola without showing you my good friend, Tareg. Tareg was my bike mechanic. After I came back for my bike, later that day, Tareg and I chatted and chatted and Tareg took my bike for a spin, much to the delight of the onlooking kids. When I left the shop (which was just a roadside shop), I sadly thought I wouldn't see Tareg again. But, as I was sitting having tea at the end of the day, guess who arrived? Tareg! He had arrived on his bike, a big one full of whistles and bells. I rose and said, "Tareg!" He said, "Wala!" and we gave each other big hugs, as though we'd been best buddies for years, rather than all of about 1o hours. He then sat down with me and we chatted and chatted, for about 2 hours. That's when I took this picture, which, unfortunately, isn't such a great one of him. He explained to the other customers (his mates, I guess) that I was the woman who was sleeping with a group at the empty zoo - this brought lots of laughter. Then, Ahmed the chef, who called himself "Doctor Ahmed", asked if I could come back the following night because he was serving up chicken, a real specialty. But I had to say that, alas, my group is moving on and I have no choice but to move on with them. At the end, Tareg walked me back to the empty zoo, where we were camping, and he gave me his address so that I could mail the picture. And he told me to please come back one day and visit him and his wife and family. Dongola was the greatest!

Photos - Cairo to Aswan, Egypt

Here are some pictures! This first one is the red carpet treatment we got at the start of the expedition, in Cairo. We had been led by police escort up to the pyramids, where the offical start of the race was. There, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism talked to us and welcomed us to the start of the tour. Here is the picture of it.

Next, here is a guy standing at attention at the Valley of the Kings, outside of Luxor, Egypt. I think he was making sure that grave robbers didn't steal ancient archaelogical stuff.

Here is a picture of one of our Egyptian security guards. I took it at a lunch break at the truck. The truck always stops about half-way through the day, by the way, and gives us lunch - usually, sandwiches and some fruit.

The next two pictures are Chas's train (specifically, the ca-BOOSE), and a neat town built into the rocks, just north of Aswan, Egypt.

Voila! Here is one of the many photos I took of the boat-loading adventure in Aswan, Egypt. This was for our overnight ferry that took us across Lake Nasser to Wadi Halfa, Sudan. The boat was waaayyyyy overloaded. I sat on the upper deck of the boat for hours with my new Egyptian friend that I met, while we watched them load. He was estimating that we would set sail at 6:00 p.m. I was saying, nooo, they'll get it all loaded by the scheduled take-off of 4:00. Well, we set sail at about 7:00 p.m. In this particular photo, the pick-up truck had almost fallen over and a bunch of its cargo had fallen off, creating quite a stir. They then held the truck up with these two pieces of plywood, while they continued unloading. What an adventure that was!