Its been 2 weeks since I got to Capetown and I think it's time to update this blog again.
Now I'm home, everyone is pleased to see me and asks me "how was your trip". It's a simple question - yet the answer is complex. The words "good" and "fantastic" even "awesome" come out of my mouth - and even though I'm not lying, I know these words don't come close to being accurate. How can riding your bike over massive corrugation in 50 degree heat possibly be "good"? It's not - its hard work!!! There were times when my legs were tired, my bum was sore, times where we went up to 9 days in between proper showers.
But the people we meet, the experiences shared, the feeling of satisfaction as we conquered a tough day in the saddle… these are what make the trip what it is. It was a huge personal challenge, it was a journey as much about cycling, culture and landscapes as a journey of self discovery.
I was asked to speak at my scout group AGM (as the person to entice everyone to actually come along to the AGM!). I sat down at my computer to write my speech - and I didn't know where to begin. Ithink that was even harder - to put our journey into words to an audience that wasn't there, than to simply cover the required kilometres for a day.
We went through so many exciting moments that I could only pick out a few to share.
People expect riding a bicycle across Africa would be a life changing experience. I’m still the same person, and the world back home is still the same. Nothing has changed yet I see everything in a different light.
People ask me what I’m going to do next – and I don’t know the answer. I had my life back home set up so that I could come back to it and everything would be the same. But I know I don’t want this. I don’t want this to be the end of a great journey. I want it to be the start of the next adventure.
My eyes have been opened and I don’t want to close them. I’m looking around at all the possibilities – and there are seriously a lot out there!
One of my favourite quotes is something a Mark Twain once said:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The journeys end
We got into Capetown yesterday and had a pretty over the top welcome! I can't believe how fast the last few days have past. I'm feeling weird. Excited and sad at the same time.
I haven't updated this blog in such a long time that I don't know where to start - I think there's been one or two opportunities but they were both on long pedalling days and I had time between getting into camp and our rider meeting to either do internet or yoga with Erin... Yoga won - I needed to stretch!
So Namibia, apart from being a great country to experience the feeling of riding naked in (due to very few people) was perhaps one of my favourite countries to bike through - although each country is so diverse that it is hard to say which I like the most!!! The landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen before, but hard to describe. Beautiful yellow grass and nice little hills. And Mitch and I always prefer the dirt to the pavement.
The riding through South Africa was less exciting and has been more about just getting to the end.
Dad says from reading everyone elses blog that everyone else seems to be reflecting at this stage and I admit I have been purposefully avoiding it, as there's people at work that might be reading this blog and I haven't been so keen to go back.
The "what next?" is constantly on my mind and something I think about quite often as I pedal along. Since arriving in Maun, Botswana I suddenly decided that I didn't really want to return to 9B, the medical ward at the MAH. I miss working and having something to think about - and have especially noticed it in the last 3 weeks. The thought of going back to showers, bedpans, and changing pads is not something I want to be doing forever. And I know if I returned that its too easy to just get back into the old swing of life, get back into the old comfort zone. But then I thought that it would be nice to have an income again soon after I got back so I told my boss that I was still keen to come back. I am however thankful that he has finally emailed me back and basically told me that he's got too many staff at the moment and I would have to be redistributed to another part of the hospital... But the thought of being unemployed and starting something new really excites me. Suddenly I'm unemployed and I don't think anyone else has been so excited about being unemployed before! "What next" for me means going back home for a few weeks at least, and then finding a new job in an emergency department. I don't know where - maybe Hobart or Alice Springs I'm thinking. Or Darwin. The plan is to apply everywhere and see what comes up.
Anyhow, there's more to write but I'm out of time - I'm meeting up with some friends to walk up to the top of Table Mountain watch the sunset and have a picnic.
Happy Mothers Day Mum! Look forward to seeing you and Dad and Janey on THURSDAY!!!!
I haven't updated this blog in such a long time that I don't know where to start - I think there's been one or two opportunities but they were both on long pedalling days and I had time between getting into camp and our rider meeting to either do internet or yoga with Erin... Yoga won - I needed to stretch!
So Namibia, apart from being a great country to experience the feeling of riding naked in (due to very few people) was perhaps one of my favourite countries to bike through - although each country is so diverse that it is hard to say which I like the most!!! The landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen before, but hard to describe. Beautiful yellow grass and nice little hills. And Mitch and I always prefer the dirt to the pavement.
The riding through South Africa was less exciting and has been more about just getting to the end.
Dad says from reading everyone elses blog that everyone else seems to be reflecting at this stage and I admit I have been purposefully avoiding it, as there's people at work that might be reading this blog and I haven't been so keen to go back.
The "what next?" is constantly on my mind and something I think about quite often as I pedal along. Since arriving in Maun, Botswana I suddenly decided that I didn't really want to return to 9B, the medical ward at the MAH. I miss working and having something to think about - and have especially noticed it in the last 3 weeks. The thought of going back to showers, bedpans, and changing pads is not something I want to be doing forever. And I know if I returned that its too easy to just get back into the old swing of life, get back into the old comfort zone. But then I thought that it would be nice to have an income again soon after I got back so I told my boss that I was still keen to come back. I am however thankful that he has finally emailed me back and basically told me that he's got too many staff at the moment and I would have to be redistributed to another part of the hospital... But the thought of being unemployed and starting something new really excites me. Suddenly I'm unemployed and I don't think anyone else has been so excited about being unemployed before! "What next" for me means going back home for a few weeks at least, and then finding a new job in an emergency department. I don't know where - maybe Hobart or Alice Springs I'm thinking. Or Darwin. The plan is to apply everywhere and see what comes up.
Anyhow, there's more to write but I'm out of time - I'm meeting up with some friends to walk up to the top of Table Mountain watch the sunset and have a picnic.
Happy Mothers Day Mum! Look forward to seeing you and Dad and Janey on THURSDAY!!!!
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Namibian Nude Mile
It had to be done.
And Erin and I had to out do the boys.
So we ride a full 10km completely naked instead of just one mile (1.6km).
And then another 27km topless.
Namibia has been an awesome country - maybe even my favourite TDA country. Nice dirt to ride on, not many cars (hence the nudity).
The internet place is about to close so I can't finish this entry today but its been ages since I've posted an update so here it is - will update again ASAP!
And Erin and I had to out do the boys.
So we ride a full 10km completely naked instead of just one mile (1.6km).
And then another 27km topless.
Namibia has been an awesome country - maybe even my favourite TDA country. Nice dirt to ride on, not many cars (hence the nudity).
The internet place is about to close so I can't finish this entry today but its been ages since I've posted an update so here it is - will update again ASAP!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Camping Out
The elephant highway has been a challenging section. Long days in the saddle up to 207km, which took me 9 hours on my bike to complete. Botswana was flat, the scenery unchanging. Thorn tree after thorn tree, my slick tyres wore out so I've been riding the last few weeks with my semi- slicks which means slightly harder work. I just tell myself I'll be fitter for it when I get home! To make life more exciting I ride with different people everyday. I spent one whole day riding with the sweep rider - Shanny and Henry in the morning then Alex in the afternoon. Sometimes I still ride alone and listen to my MP3 player. I ride with Sonja, Viv, Isabel, Mara, & Lloyd taking it in turns in a peloton to get through the wind. I ride with Tim and Bruce where we take 10minute turns on the front. There's meant to be prevailing tail winds but the weather doesn't seem to want to behave itself. I'm pleased to have reached Namibia, and the next 7 days are unpaved road. Woohoo!!! As well as the challenging long days the mentality of the riders has been somewhat lower. We can see the end approaching but it still seemed so far away. Only 2 more weeeks now and I think there'll be a mixture of excitement and sadness as we get closer and closer to Capetown.
3.5 months of camping is a long time to spend in your tent and now that we have reached Namibia we are below the high risk malaria area. The first two nights in Namibia I don't pitch my tent and sleep under the stars. The first night works fine, but the second night got a bit more exciting. The sky was clear when I went to sleep somewhere around 7:30pm. 10pm I wake to raindrops falling on my face. Everyone is frantically putting their flies on. I am the only one camping out and I crawl under the lunch truck where it is somewhat dryer and go back to sleep. The wind picks up and the rain gets heavier and I move over so that I'm not getting wet, and eventually I go back to sleep. At 2am I'm awake again. Its still raining and the moisture has collected on the pipes under the truck and is dripping quite heavily on me and my sleeping bag. I make a dash for it with my sleeping mat and sleeping bag to the campground kitchen, but when I get there I find that the fabric awning that shelters it is not waterproof. The only dry spot I can see is in the corner under the kitchen sleep so that is where I sleep. I wake extra early at 4:30 when James is up making scrambled eggs for us for breakfast. I give him a hand cracking eggs and drop a heap of egg shell into the mixture which makes me giggle (and everyone tells me the first thing they heard that morning was me giggling!). Sometimes we are so well supported I feel like I'm on a luxury tour and I really want this to be an intrepid expedition, which is how I felt that night!
The next day riding we get some rain, and I get nicely soaked and freezing cold on my way into Windhoek. Even though I am freezing cold and can barely see, I have a big giggle just because I am feeling so mad yet so alive!
Next time I don't pitch my tent I'll have to prearrange with someone to gatecrash if it rains!
3.5 months of camping is a long time to spend in your tent and now that we have reached Namibia we are below the high risk malaria area. The first two nights in Namibia I don't pitch my tent and sleep under the stars. The first night works fine, but the second night got a bit more exciting. The sky was clear when I went to sleep somewhere around 7:30pm. 10pm I wake to raindrops falling on my face. Everyone is frantically putting their flies on. I am the only one camping out and I crawl under the lunch truck where it is somewhat dryer and go back to sleep. The wind picks up and the rain gets heavier and I move over so that I'm not getting wet, and eventually I go back to sleep. At 2am I'm awake again. Its still raining and the moisture has collected on the pipes under the truck and is dripping quite heavily on me and my sleeping bag. I make a dash for it with my sleeping mat and sleeping bag to the campground kitchen, but when I get there I find that the fabric awning that shelters it is not waterproof. The only dry spot I can see is in the corner under the kitchen sleep so that is where I sleep. I wake extra early at 4:30 when James is up making scrambled eggs for us for breakfast. I give him a hand cracking eggs and drop a heap of egg shell into the mixture which makes me giggle (and everyone tells me the first thing they heard that morning was me giggling!). Sometimes we are so well supported I feel like I'm on a luxury tour and I really want this to be an intrepid expedition, which is how I felt that night!
The next day riding we get some rain, and I get nicely soaked and freezing cold on my way into Windhoek. Even though I am freezing cold and can barely see, I have a big giggle just because I am feeling so mad yet so alive!
Next time I don't pitch my tent I'll have to prearrange with someone to gatecrash if it rains!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Elephant and The Worm
I have pedalled the last 5 days along the section titled "The Elephant Highway", named so because there is a high chance of seeing elephants along the way! And the first day riding we are disappointed. I see plenty of butterflies. Plenty of caterpillars. Plenty of grasshoppers. Plenty of elephant poo (which we're told not to ride through because as well as obvious reasons, elephants like eating acacia trees which are thorny and the thorns don't digest too well and unless you really like fixing flats...).
The second day is better. There's more elephant poo to dodge. I see a deer-like creature which starts with the letter L but I can't pronounce the name or have any idea how to spell it! And then we pass by the biggest piece of road kill I have ever seen - man dead elephant stinks!!! We also pass by some hyena road kill. And then drinking by the waterhole is Bob, the biggest elephant I have ever seen. He's about 50m away from me and Evelyn (who doesn't spell her name like that but I don't know the right way to spell it) and staring at us. Don't think he sees too many bicycles. We get photos of ourselves with him in the background and he takes a few steps towards rider Simon, flapping his ears, and we think he's going to charge. He doesn't though but we don't linger too long and leave him to drink without being watched.
I see two more elephants that day, one crosses the road right in front of me, another I don't see until I've spooked it riding along beside it.
The following day we get warned of the rogue elephant who likes to stand on the highway and take on the cars. He's off duty thankfully when we pass though!
Ok - so now the story with the worm.
Worms are much smaller than elephants and in the Botswanian sand lies some larvae. The larvae have buried there way under at least 3 riders skin and grown into worms that wriggle and itch right under the skin. Some riders are also ill with intestinal worms too, and the treatment for both worms is apparantly the same - so now there is some talk that we all should take prophylactic worm medication. I am thankfully still asymptomatic - but very intrigued about these worms!
The long days in the saddle have led me to now understand what it feels like to have pressure areas! Nothing too major down there yet though!
Hope all is well with everyone back home :)
The second day is better. There's more elephant poo to dodge. I see a deer-like creature which starts with the letter L but I can't pronounce the name or have any idea how to spell it! And then we pass by the biggest piece of road kill I have ever seen - man dead elephant stinks!!! We also pass by some hyena road kill. And then drinking by the waterhole is Bob, the biggest elephant I have ever seen. He's about 50m away from me and Evelyn (who doesn't spell her name like that but I don't know the right way to spell it) and staring at us. Don't think he sees too many bicycles. We get photos of ourselves with him in the background and he takes a few steps towards rider Simon, flapping his ears, and we think he's going to charge. He doesn't though but we don't linger too long and leave him to drink without being watched.
I see two more elephants that day, one crosses the road right in front of me, another I don't see until I've spooked it riding along beside it.
The following day we get warned of the rogue elephant who likes to stand on the highway and take on the cars. He's off duty thankfully when we pass though!
Ok - so now the story with the worm.
Worms are much smaller than elephants and in the Botswanian sand lies some larvae. The larvae have buried there way under at least 3 riders skin and grown into worms that wriggle and itch right under the skin. Some riders are also ill with intestinal worms too, and the treatment for both worms is apparantly the same - so now there is some talk that we all should take prophylactic worm medication. I am thankfully still asymptomatic - but very intrigued about these worms!
The long days in the saddle have led me to now understand what it feels like to have pressure areas! Nothing too major down there yet though!
Hope all is well with everyone back home :)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Victoria Falls - the adrenaline capital of Africa
It took 3 days for us to pedal the 480km between Lusaka to Livingstone, the town near Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls is the adrenaline capital of Africa so of course I don't miss out on the opportunity of lots of adrenaline activities. I am a brave person - brave enough to bike across Africa, brave enough to venture from the suburbs into town on local transport in the city of Lusaka and back again by myself (which I did because everyone else was simply hanging out at the western mall on our last rest day and I wanted to check out the markets in town!). I'm quite proud of myself for this because it was tricky figuring out which bus to get back on again - but definitely worth it and even though I gave up on finding the snake stone, I did find the Rambo Tot (which turned out to be a sachet of orange flavoured liquor), another item we were meant to find for the scavanger hunt. Jolyane and I came second in the great hunt anyhow!!!
Yesterday however I went on the gorge swing. The gorge swing consists of a rope suspended in the middle of the gorge. You stand on a platform on the edge of a cliff, and step off, and after you have had a free fall of 53 metres the rope swing catches you and you fly back up into the air again, fall again, and then its just like a massive massive swing.
I'm standing on the platform in my harness feeling ok, and I walk closer to the edge. The guy at the top says to me
"Are you ready?"
And I look down suddenly scared, and terrified. I don't really want to walk off the side of a cliff. This is crazy. But I am crazy - I know that already (enough people told me before I left, and enough of the locals over here tell us the same thing!).
"No" I tell him. "I'm scared".
He smiles...
"3-2-1" he says
I know thats my cue to walk off the side of the cliff.
"Can we do the counting thing again?" I ask.
And he counts again.
And I walk off the side of a massively high cliff, and fall at 140km/hr down the 53 metres watching the trees at the bottom of the gorge come closer and closer.
The rope catches me and I get the giggles at myself for getting so scared about something that only lasts a few seconds and check out the view of the gorge while I'm swinging backwards and forwards until they lower me to the ground.
I have 2 more goes on the swings - both of them are tandems. It wasn't any easier going over the edge. The next time is with Malcolm the Giant. Malcolm and I get harnessed up again, we get shown where to hold each others harnesses and they tie our feet together. Going tandem you have to go over the side of the cliff backwards. Malcolm is more brave than I am and as we're leaning backwards to fall over the side of the cliff he's leaning backwards faster than I am. I'm scared and start leaning forwards. He starts leaning forwards then too (he says anyway - I didn't realise!) and I pluck up enough courage to firstly swear ("oh f*** it") before I lean backwards and pull Malcolm with me over the side of the cliff. And we're going head first towards the hard rocky cliff face on the other side of the gorge, faster than before (180km/hr maybe) because tandems are faster, and heavier.
It's a funny story now because lots of us are aware that we swear more than we did before we came, but I'm still not a big swearer yet!
This morning I spend more of my hard earned $s (I keep using the excuse that I don't know when the next time I'll be in Africa will be) and take a flight on a microlight glider to see the falls and it was a really cool!!! So much fun. Microlights are kind of like a hang glider with a motor. John my cool Aussie pilot from Alice Springs points out some hippos below us.
There's some more long days awaiting us and tomorrow is going to be an easy 82km day to get us across and into Botswana. 3 countries to go and only 4 weeks.
Janey - you asked if I was looking forward to coming home or sad to be leaving. And the honest answer is that at the moment I'm happy, and in 4 weeks time I will be ready to come home. I love biking, but at the moment I spend 7-8 hours actually sitting on my bike covering all these kms. 5-6 hours a day would be sufficient I think!!! So yes, starting to look forward to coming home, but still enjoying the pedalling (although feeling challenged by the end of the day - which is the whole idea in the first place. This trip wasn't meant to be easy!)
Annie Jo - thanks for your email, looking forward to hearing Adams band when I get home!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!
Victoria Falls is the adrenaline capital of Africa so of course I don't miss out on the opportunity of lots of adrenaline activities. I am a brave person - brave enough to bike across Africa, brave enough to venture from the suburbs into town on local transport in the city of Lusaka and back again by myself (which I did because everyone else was simply hanging out at the western mall on our last rest day and I wanted to check out the markets in town!). I'm quite proud of myself for this because it was tricky figuring out which bus to get back on again - but definitely worth it and even though I gave up on finding the snake stone, I did find the Rambo Tot (which turned out to be a sachet of orange flavoured liquor), another item we were meant to find for the scavanger hunt. Jolyane and I came second in the great hunt anyhow!!!
Yesterday however I went on the gorge swing. The gorge swing consists of a rope suspended in the middle of the gorge. You stand on a platform on the edge of a cliff, and step off, and after you have had a free fall of 53 metres the rope swing catches you and you fly back up into the air again, fall again, and then its just like a massive massive swing.
I'm standing on the platform in my harness feeling ok, and I walk closer to the edge. The guy at the top says to me
"Are you ready?"
And I look down suddenly scared, and terrified. I don't really want to walk off the side of a cliff. This is crazy. But I am crazy - I know that already (enough people told me before I left, and enough of the locals over here tell us the same thing!).
"No" I tell him. "I'm scared".
He smiles...
"3-2-1" he says
I know thats my cue to walk off the side of the cliff.
"Can we do the counting thing again?" I ask.
And he counts again.
And I walk off the side of a massively high cliff, and fall at 140km/hr down the 53 metres watching the trees at the bottom of the gorge come closer and closer.
The rope catches me and I get the giggles at myself for getting so scared about something that only lasts a few seconds and check out the view of the gorge while I'm swinging backwards and forwards until they lower me to the ground.
I have 2 more goes on the swings - both of them are tandems. It wasn't any easier going over the edge. The next time is with Malcolm the Giant. Malcolm and I get harnessed up again, we get shown where to hold each others harnesses and they tie our feet together. Going tandem you have to go over the side of the cliff backwards. Malcolm is more brave than I am and as we're leaning backwards to fall over the side of the cliff he's leaning backwards faster than I am. I'm scared and start leaning forwards. He starts leaning forwards then too (he says anyway - I didn't realise!) and I pluck up enough courage to firstly swear ("oh f*** it") before I lean backwards and pull Malcolm with me over the side of the cliff. And we're going head first towards the hard rocky cliff face on the other side of the gorge, faster than before (180km/hr maybe) because tandems are faster, and heavier.
It's a funny story now because lots of us are aware that we swear more than we did before we came, but I'm still not a big swearer yet!
This morning I spend more of my hard earned $s (I keep using the excuse that I don't know when the next time I'll be in Africa will be) and take a flight on a microlight glider to see the falls and it was a really cool!!! So much fun. Microlights are kind of like a hang glider with a motor. John my cool Aussie pilot from Alice Springs points out some hippos below us.
There's some more long days awaiting us and tomorrow is going to be an easy 82km day to get us across and into Botswana. 3 countries to go and only 4 weeks.
Janey - you asked if I was looking forward to coming home or sad to be leaving. And the honest answer is that at the moment I'm happy, and in 4 weeks time I will be ready to come home. I love biking, but at the moment I spend 7-8 hours actually sitting on my bike covering all these kms. 5-6 hours a day would be sufficient I think!!! So yes, starting to look forward to coming home, but still enjoying the pedalling (although feeling challenged by the end of the day - which is the whole idea in the first place. This trip wasn't meant to be easy!)
Annie Jo - thanks for your email, looking forward to hearing Adams band when I get home!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Long days, the great scavenger hunt and a good nights rest
I have a new purpose as I pedal my way through Zambia - finding objects for The Great Zambian Scavenger Hunt. It's lots of fun and I feel kind of like I'm doing the amazing race! The hunt is all over at 5pm tomorrow and my partner in crime - the wonderful Jolyane and I still have a few more things to find. There is a list of 20 things on the list we need to find and so far we have scavenged:
- a broken discarded shoe
- a piece of amalesa (which we had to firstly find out what it was - charcoal!)
- a ngwe - which is an old Zambian coin no longer used
- a seed from a baobab tree
- a mozi (brand of beer) bottle cap
- a rusty nail
- and many more equally random objects.
We also needed a picture of me on a local bicycle - I chose one with a 3 year old kid on the back, and the frame was really huge and it was a really hard bike to ride, not to mention how worried I was that the kid would fall off the back!!! We have a picture of a Zambian person doing the TDA pose (holding their bicycle above their head).
Today we thought we might have had a lead for the "snake stone" which I think is apparently a special black stone that you rub on a snake bite thats supposed to fix you up. We need to find a Witch Doctor to get one of these. We saw a sign to the "Black Doctor" though 400m off the main road, which we followed into a little village which obviously (although only 50km from Lusaka) saw very few white people. They were very accommodating of us and although the doctor did not have a snake stone one of his 5 wives made us tea, and gave us bread and beans and we had a good chat... it was one of those great moments you get when you're travelling. The doctor himself was 79 years old and looking good. He said he had 62 children, who had 9 different mothers (but only 5 wives). He had some very cute kids (or maybe they were grandkids- I'm not sure!). Anyhow, Jolyane, Miranda, Nate, Dave & I (who were all with me in the village) managed to get behind the sweep rider so everyone was wondering where we were at lunchtime! And then Eric who was the afternoon sweep rider caught me finding my rusty nail in the afternoon. It was only the 2nd time I'd been caught by the sweep - I'm usually up near the front of the pack!
Anyhow, I'm in Lusaka now, the capital of Zambia. And thankful that tomorrow is a rest day because I am feeling tired - the last 5 days have been long - 145km, 175km, 141km, 151km, and today only 105km. But the rolling hills are never ending and there have been some big climbs. Thankfully however I have a new thermarest, kindly donated to a needy rider by Werner who had to go home early in Tanzania after he was hit by a truck and broke his elbow. Werner's thermarest is thick - at least half as thick as mine when it used to inflate, and it has a built in pillow. At night time even though I'm still on the ground in my tent, I feel like I'm back in my bed at home!!!
Mitch the Rockhopper is now feeling like new after Dr Mark operated on him recently and gave him an operation - a Total Drivetrain, casette and chainwheel Replacement he had. He's shifting again like he did when he was new!
- a broken discarded shoe
- a piece of amalesa (which we had to firstly find out what it was - charcoal!)
- a ngwe - which is an old Zambian coin no longer used
- a seed from a baobab tree
- a mozi (brand of beer) bottle cap
- a rusty nail
- and many more equally random objects.
We also needed a picture of me on a local bicycle - I chose one with a 3 year old kid on the back, and the frame was really huge and it was a really hard bike to ride, not to mention how worried I was that the kid would fall off the back!!! We have a picture of a Zambian person doing the TDA pose (holding their bicycle above their head).
Today we thought we might have had a lead for the "snake stone" which I think is apparently a special black stone that you rub on a snake bite thats supposed to fix you up. We need to find a Witch Doctor to get one of these. We saw a sign to the "Black Doctor" though 400m off the main road, which we followed into a little village which obviously (although only 50km from Lusaka) saw very few white people. They were very accommodating of us and although the doctor did not have a snake stone one of his 5 wives made us tea, and gave us bread and beans and we had a good chat... it was one of those great moments you get when you're travelling. The doctor himself was 79 years old and looking good. He said he had 62 children, who had 9 different mothers (but only 5 wives). He had some very cute kids (or maybe they were grandkids- I'm not sure!). Anyhow, Jolyane, Miranda, Nate, Dave & I (who were all with me in the village) managed to get behind the sweep rider so everyone was wondering where we were at lunchtime! And then Eric who was the afternoon sweep rider caught me finding my rusty nail in the afternoon. It was only the 2nd time I'd been caught by the sweep - I'm usually up near the front of the pack!
Anyhow, I'm in Lusaka now, the capital of Zambia. And thankful that tomorrow is a rest day because I am feeling tired - the last 5 days have been long - 145km, 175km, 141km, 151km, and today only 105km. But the rolling hills are never ending and there have been some big climbs. Thankfully however I have a new thermarest, kindly donated to a needy rider by Werner who had to go home early in Tanzania after he was hit by a truck and broke his elbow. Werner's thermarest is thick - at least half as thick as mine when it used to inflate, and it has a built in pillow. At night time even though I'm still on the ground in my tent, I feel like I'm back in my bed at home!!!
Mitch the Rockhopper is now feeling like new after Dr Mark operated on him recently and gave him an operation - a Total Drivetrain, casette and chainwheel Replacement he had. He's shifting again like he did when he was new!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
It really is a long way down...
Well its been a while since I have updated this blog and I'm sorry I haven't had the chance. Firstly I want to say happy birthday to Mum though!!! Sorry its a little late. I tried to call and find internet on your birthday but it was Sunday and all the internet places in the town of Rasungu were closed and Rasungu is not a place with mobile reception of any kind but I was definitely thinking of you!!!
We have entered Malawi. Our last rest day was at Chitimba Beach on the northern part of the lake, lots of sand and somehow there were big enough waves to body surf on. Even though it was rest day there was plenty of activity going on - beach volleyball, scrabble, cards, and a chance to curl up and have an afternoon nap!
My first impression of Malawi was somewhat similar to Ethiopia. Lots of children saying "money, money" at you... it wasn't until a few days after I'd been in the country that I learn that "Moni" is actually the word for "hello" in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, and there is less begging than I thought.
Its this point in the tour however that many riders have in fact taken off to have a holiday from their holiday. A concept that I originally thought a bizarre idea but now understand it much more. Endless days in the saddle, sore bottoms, and a beautiful lake with the chance to scuba dive, beaches to relax on has led quite a few riders away for a few days. I keep riding though, enjoying the time in the saddle.
It rains everyday here - not something I am used to being from the Sunshine State where it barely ever rains. My tent has only had one leaky moment though and I have decided that I am actually quite happy with it these days!!! Should really stop complaining about it haha!
A bridge on our route has been washed away so we take an alternate route to Lilongwe (in fact the short route!) where I am now. We ride the mountains instead and they are beautiful... although we would have loved to ride the road right next to the beach!!! Headwinds and hills has made the challenge continue. We get 2 days to explore this city, the capital of Malawi.
We have entered Malawi. Our last rest day was at Chitimba Beach on the northern part of the lake, lots of sand and somehow there were big enough waves to body surf on. Even though it was rest day there was plenty of activity going on - beach volleyball, scrabble, cards, and a chance to curl up and have an afternoon nap!
My first impression of Malawi was somewhat similar to Ethiopia. Lots of children saying "money, money" at you... it wasn't until a few days after I'd been in the country that I learn that "Moni" is actually the word for "hello" in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, and there is less begging than I thought.
Its this point in the tour however that many riders have in fact taken off to have a holiday from their holiday. A concept that I originally thought a bizarre idea but now understand it much more. Endless days in the saddle, sore bottoms, and a beautiful lake with the chance to scuba dive, beaches to relax on has led quite a few riders away for a few days. I keep riding though, enjoying the time in the saddle.
It rains everyday here - not something I am used to being from the Sunshine State where it barely ever rains. My tent has only had one leaky moment though and I have decided that I am actually quite happy with it these days!!! Should really stop complaining about it haha!
A bridge on our route has been washed away so we take an alternate route to Lilongwe (in fact the short route!) where I am now. We ride the mountains instead and they are beautiful... although we would have loved to ride the road right next to the beach!!! Headwinds and hills has made the challenge continue. We get 2 days to explore this city, the capital of Malawi.
Friday, March 20, 2009
And the hyenas come at night....
Well, I am feeling much better after my big stack. There is still a deep cut on my knee but its healing well, my wrist is still a little sore and will be pleased to have pavement so it doesn't have to put up with all the shaking of the unpaved roads, and I can still feel the bruising of my ribs but it only really bothers me when I sleep.Thanks for the offer to send a new helmet mum and dad however my existing one is looking ok and although it isn't ultra ideal to ride with I have examined it for fractures and cracks and it appears ok apart from a minor hole in the outer shell (which is seriouslz tiny) so I am confident it will still give me some protection.
Tanzania is a beautiful country - very lush in comparison to the rest of Africa that we have seen so far, and although I am a little sore I still love riding unpaved roads! I am taking it much more easy on the downhills because I don't want to do any more damage to myself if I come off again!!!
I have ridden every inch of every day since Arusha, with the exception of one afternoon when I got busy pretending to be an ambo for a little while instead.
Our 3 day safari was awesome. We saw all the big 5 and many other exciting things aswell. I like giraffes the most - they are very graceful animals, especially as they are so large... and they are docile aswell. Frank, one of the riders I was with on safari swears he nearly got eaten by a lion. But seriously, there are quite often hyenas around our camp sites - sometimes I wake up and need to pee but have to hang on because I can hear noises and I'm afraid I might get eaten by a hyena!!!
Today is a rest day in Iringa. The roads are meant to be paved until we get to Namibia now which is probably a good things because my knobblies are wearing out and Mitch the Rockhopper likes to ride all day every day and gets jealous when I stop to help people (like the other day when I was helping Bruce he spontaneously punctured himself, and then did it again when he was getting loaded onto the lunch truck while I was off getting Paul to the hospital!!!). Then he goes and decides to make all his rear gears stop working for a while (had to be a time trial day too! - silly bike!) so he's been to see Mark and Tom the bike doctors who have thankfully made him feel much better, and he now has rear gears that work.
So this morning has been a day of changing tyres, the slicks are back on, done my washing (that's one thing I won't miss when I get home - handwashing all my clothes!!!). Gave Mitchy a clean so he now has a nice clean and oiled drivetrain again. Hope he feels more loved now and will stop spontaneously puncturing himself for no obvious reason!!!
Tanzania is a beautiful country - very lush in comparison to the rest of Africa that we have seen so far, and although I am a little sore I still love riding unpaved roads! I am taking it much more easy on the downhills because I don't want to do any more damage to myself if I come off again!!!
I have ridden every inch of every day since Arusha, with the exception of one afternoon when I got busy pretending to be an ambo for a little while instead.
Our 3 day safari was awesome. We saw all the big 5 and many other exciting things aswell. I like giraffes the most - they are very graceful animals, especially as they are so large... and they are docile aswell. Frank, one of the riders I was with on safari swears he nearly got eaten by a lion. But seriously, there are quite often hyenas around our camp sites - sometimes I wake up and need to pee but have to hang on because I can hear noises and I'm afraid I might get eaten by a hyena!!!
Today is a rest day in Iringa. The roads are meant to be paved until we get to Namibia now which is probably a good things because my knobblies are wearing out and Mitch the Rockhopper likes to ride all day every day and gets jealous when I stop to help people (like the other day when I was helping Bruce he spontaneously punctured himself, and then did it again when he was getting loaded onto the lunch truck while I was off getting Paul to the hospital!!!). Then he goes and decides to make all his rear gears stop working for a while (had to be a time trial day too! - silly bike!) so he's been to see Mark and Tom the bike doctors who have thankfully made him feel much better, and he now has rear gears that work.
So this morning has been a day of changing tyres, the slicks are back on, done my washing (that's one thing I won't miss when I get home - handwashing all my clothes!!!). Gave Mitchy a clean so he now has a nice clean and oiled drivetrain again. Hope he feels more loved now and will stop spontaneously puncturing himself for no obvious reason!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Utter chaos... (and a trip to the local hospital!)
Yesterday was the most chaotic day on tour so far however it is always the unexpected events that happen along the way that make these trips worthwhile.
I'm riding along anyhow as I do most days except rest days and when I get to about 33km I see Alan & Bruce standing up inspecting Bruce's bike. I stop and they ask if I have any first aid stuff on me. Which I don't because I used it all up on me the other day!!! I look at Bruces elbow and there is blood everywhere coming out of it. His clothes are all ripped up too. Thankfully he is standing up and looking ok (apart from all the blood). Times like these we all work in a team however and the next rider is never too far behind. Evelyn is more organised than the rest of us however and she has some first aid stuff. Malcolm has babywipes to clean up all the dirt. And because I didn't bother to keep the fact quiet that I am a nurse, and because I am slightly more used to seeing copious quantities of blood compared to many other people, I am the one that gets to fix Bruces arm. So I clean the wound & compression bandage it and do a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding and Bruce is able to keep riding. I think Erin (the medic) is at the lunch truck & I want her to look at it to see if she reckons it needs stitches.
But further behind me Paul Porter (different Paul to the one helping me when I had my wipe out) also stacks it. He's gone over after not seeing a big huge pothole hidden by the shadow of a baobab tree.
Paul is a great guy and someone who I admire alot on this tour (especially because he's an Ironman, but also because he's 53 and keeps racing with the younger guys even though now he's the only racer in the masters category). He also knows a lot about a lot of things, and is a very interesting person to talk to.
Paul hurts his elbow quite badly, which needs to be sutured. When I get to the lunch truck Erin is not there (and I wanted her to look at Bruces elbow!!!). I missed seeing the 4x4 go by with her and Eddie our local guide for the section. Anyhow, the 4x4 gets back to the lunch truck while I'm still there with Alex & Erin our 2 awesome medics, and Paul. Erin can suture and I want to learn so I ask if I can come up to watch. As they take off the tape applying pressure to Pauls wound the wound opens and blood squirts out - I don't think I've seen blood squirt out like that before and they expect an arterial bleed - which means the artery requires suturing usually under anaesthetic - which means Paul will have to go hospital, but first we need to get Paul back from the lunch truck into the 4x4 and there is so much blood. I am trying to help by holding Pauls arm above his head & it is decided that 2 people need to go with Paul (as well as Eddie to drive the vehicle) to help stabilise the bleeding as best as possible along the way. We are more than 100km from the nearest hospital in Iringa. It's decided that Erin should stay with everyone else because she needs to check out Bruce, and in case there are any more emergencies along the way so I go with Alex & Paul & Eddie in the 4x4. Alex is applying pressure to the wound, I'm applying pressure to a point below the wound and for a while we get the bleeding stopped and stabilised.
We're in Tanzania. The roads are slightly better than the ones in Northern Kenya but it takes a good 2.5 hours in the car to get to Iringa. We get there and Paul is still alive and talking, slightly pale in the face and there is lots of swelling to his elbow and we suspect its fractured.
At the hospital Alex jumps out and finds out where we need to take Paul to. We must've looked weird - 3 Mzungus in lycra - 2 holding the others hand above his head.
Luckily the doctor is also a cyclist - he tells us he has a nice bicycle - it has 6 gears!!!
I was impressed with the hospital - they x-rayed Pauls arm, he was seen by an orthopaedic surgeon and we got his wound surgically cleaned and the bleeding controlled. Paul was admitted overnight and Alex, Eddie and I returned to camp.
Back at camp however, another rider had hit his head which also nearly required suturing (good thing Erin stayed at camp!), the dinner truck had broken down yet again (our dinner truck support vehicle is not feeling so well these days!!!) and hadn't got to camp until late. We don't get there until 1030pm and thankfully Sonja, Isobel & Michel have put up my tent for me - all I need to do is climb in and sleep...
I'm riding along anyhow as I do most days except rest days and when I get to about 33km I see Alan & Bruce standing up inspecting Bruce's bike. I stop and they ask if I have any first aid stuff on me. Which I don't because I used it all up on me the other day!!! I look at Bruces elbow and there is blood everywhere coming out of it. His clothes are all ripped up too. Thankfully he is standing up and looking ok (apart from all the blood). Times like these we all work in a team however and the next rider is never too far behind. Evelyn is more organised than the rest of us however and she has some first aid stuff. Malcolm has babywipes to clean up all the dirt. And because I didn't bother to keep the fact quiet that I am a nurse, and because I am slightly more used to seeing copious quantities of blood compared to many other people, I am the one that gets to fix Bruces arm. So I clean the wound & compression bandage it and do a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding and Bruce is able to keep riding. I think Erin (the medic) is at the lunch truck & I want her to look at it to see if she reckons it needs stitches.
But further behind me Paul Porter (different Paul to the one helping me when I had my wipe out) also stacks it. He's gone over after not seeing a big huge pothole hidden by the shadow of a baobab tree.
Paul is a great guy and someone who I admire alot on this tour (especially because he's an Ironman, but also because he's 53 and keeps racing with the younger guys even though now he's the only racer in the masters category). He also knows a lot about a lot of things, and is a very interesting person to talk to.
Paul hurts his elbow quite badly, which needs to be sutured. When I get to the lunch truck Erin is not there (and I wanted her to look at Bruces elbow!!!). I missed seeing the 4x4 go by with her and Eddie our local guide for the section. Anyhow, the 4x4 gets back to the lunch truck while I'm still there with Alex & Erin our 2 awesome medics, and Paul. Erin can suture and I want to learn so I ask if I can come up to watch. As they take off the tape applying pressure to Pauls wound the wound opens and blood squirts out - I don't think I've seen blood squirt out like that before and they expect an arterial bleed - which means the artery requires suturing usually under anaesthetic - which means Paul will have to go hospital, but first we need to get Paul back from the lunch truck into the 4x4 and there is so much blood. I am trying to help by holding Pauls arm above his head & it is decided that 2 people need to go with Paul (as well as Eddie to drive the vehicle) to help stabilise the bleeding as best as possible along the way. We are more than 100km from the nearest hospital in Iringa. It's decided that Erin should stay with everyone else because she needs to check out Bruce, and in case there are any more emergencies along the way so I go with Alex & Paul & Eddie in the 4x4. Alex is applying pressure to the wound, I'm applying pressure to a point below the wound and for a while we get the bleeding stopped and stabilised.
We're in Tanzania. The roads are slightly better than the ones in Northern Kenya but it takes a good 2.5 hours in the car to get to Iringa. We get there and Paul is still alive and talking, slightly pale in the face and there is lots of swelling to his elbow and we suspect its fractured.
At the hospital Alex jumps out and finds out where we need to take Paul to. We must've looked weird - 3 Mzungus in lycra - 2 holding the others hand above his head.
Luckily the doctor is also a cyclist - he tells us he has a nice bicycle - it has 6 gears!!!
I was impressed with the hospital - they x-rayed Pauls arm, he was seen by an orthopaedic surgeon and we got his wound surgically cleaned and the bleeding controlled. Paul was admitted overnight and Alex, Eddie and I returned to camp.
Back at camp however, another rider had hit his head which also nearly required suturing (good thing Erin stayed at camp!), the dinner truck had broken down yet again (our dinner truck support vehicle is not feeling so well these days!!!) and hadn't got to camp until late. We don't get there until 1030pm and thankfully Sonja, Isobel & Michel have put up my tent for me - all I need to do is climb in and sleep...
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wipe Out!
It was a typical day riding in Kenya. Actually better than typical because we rode right past a herd of Zebras!!! Makes me really feel like I'm in Africa. It's meant to be a 165km day, and I make it to Lunch at 70km feeling strong.
After lunch there is a heap of road works (nothing new). They like piling mounds of dirt over the new part of the road so that cars and trucks can't get across - but for bicycles they are easy to get over, and the new construction road is often smoother and easier to ride on than the old road or the alternative route. Also with less traffic so usually safer too.
So I'm riding along, on a slight downhill that I don't realise when I come across one of these mounds of dirt and think it's not so high, I'll get over it easy. But when I get closer I see it's sandy dirt, and I remember I have my slick tyres on and I'm going faster than I anticipate. I break slightly before the mound then go up and over, and suddenly I'm up high, soaring through the air on Mitch the Rockhopper. What comes up must come down however and Mitch lands too heavily on his front wheel. I fly over the handlebars, and my shoes are cleated into my pedals so my bike flys over me and at some point I become uncleated. I hit the ground. Hard. Face first in to the dust. I roll over and sit up but I can barely breathe because I am winded. I hurt too. I take my helmet off and note briefly that my visor has come half unattached to my helmet. I take off my sunnies and take a look at how scratched they are and I'm glad I was wearing them because otherwise that would have been my eye! I look down at my knees and they're both grazed the left one more than the right. There's a tiny bit of blood coming out of my lip and the side of my face is grazed. Its only a couple of minutes before Paul comes along and finds me sitting in the middle of the road and stops. Then Sven comes along. And Ivo. And I realise I am riding with a truly great bunch of people. Sven has a few clean washers with him that he gives me to clean up the blood. But my knee has a hole in it - and a very tiny bit of fatty tissue is hanging out of it. I'm shocked and I know that normally I'd be okay to clean up a wound like that on someone else no worries, but I'm really shaken up. I have a few bits of first aid kit in my camelbak (which is actually a blackwolf and not a camelbak at all hahaha) and manage to patch myself up ok for the time being. I slowly check the rest of me over and note that my right shoulder is bruised, my left elbow and wrist is sore too.
I get up with help from Paul & Sven & Ivo and go sit under the tree for a bit. Paul is great and hechecks my bike and I'm lucky I've only put one of my bar ends out of alignment so Mitch is Ok, that's easy to fix. He waits with me because I'm still shaking and there's tears in the corners of my eyes but I'm trying not to cry. I know I'm ok but I can't stop shaking. I contemplate keeping riding but my knee hurts, and my elbow won't let me tie my hair back up which has become loose. Paul calls Shanny who is sweeping and we figure that the lunch truck is a few hours away so I could sit and wait for it or hitch a ride back to lunch with the locals where there is better first aid supplies and Erin the Medic. We take the latter option and manage to squeeze two bikes and 2 Mzungus into a vehicle, and they're nice guys that drive us 10km back to the lunch truck. Erin manages to give me a bit of a better clean than I can do of myself. I ride the rest of the way to camp on the truck. I look over my helmet closely and my visor is clipped back in, there's a small damage mark just where my right temple lies - helmets are great things that do save lives!!!
Now I have a new nickname - first it was Nubian (because I always collect dust and turn up to camp and lunch black like a person from the Nubian Desert), then the Mysterious One (I'm not going to write an explanation of that one here because it is complicated) and now I'm Hop-a-long.
Today I ride the truck because my knee is quite swollen but I think it's getting better, and although I'm stiff nothing feels like its broken. Just need to keep up the Ibuprofen!!!
The next 3 days are non riding days and I'm going on safari!!! Excitement +. And I don't doubt that my bruises will be sufficiently healed for me to jump back on my bike the next riding day :)
I forgot to write before I realised when I was writing my reflections about the greatest things about this trip. Here they are:
- Flying downhills at anything up to 77km/hr so far!
- the personal satisfaction of riding a hard day
- Being able to see the culture without the barriers you get when travelling in a vehicle
- Camping every night - although I'm frustrated by my tent sometimes I'm still not sick of camping
- riding lots and lots
- bargaining in markets (I bought a plate the other day for 180 kenyan shillings which I got down from 2700!!!)
- seeing wildlife
- camp cooking!!! I love it!
- the wonderful carefree feeling you get from spending so much time outdoors
Even in my battered and bruised state that I'm in today I still manage to have a great day.
After lunch there is a heap of road works (nothing new). They like piling mounds of dirt over the new part of the road so that cars and trucks can't get across - but for bicycles they are easy to get over, and the new construction road is often smoother and easier to ride on than the old road or the alternative route. Also with less traffic so usually safer too.
So I'm riding along, on a slight downhill that I don't realise when I come across one of these mounds of dirt and think it's not so high, I'll get over it easy. But when I get closer I see it's sandy dirt, and I remember I have my slick tyres on and I'm going faster than I anticipate. I break slightly before the mound then go up and over, and suddenly I'm up high, soaring through the air on Mitch the Rockhopper. What comes up must come down however and Mitch lands too heavily on his front wheel. I fly over the handlebars, and my shoes are cleated into my pedals so my bike flys over me and at some point I become uncleated. I hit the ground. Hard. Face first in to the dust. I roll over and sit up but I can barely breathe because I am winded. I hurt too. I take my helmet off and note briefly that my visor has come half unattached to my helmet. I take off my sunnies and take a look at how scratched they are and I'm glad I was wearing them because otherwise that would have been my eye! I look down at my knees and they're both grazed the left one more than the right. There's a tiny bit of blood coming out of my lip and the side of my face is grazed. Its only a couple of minutes before Paul comes along and finds me sitting in the middle of the road and stops. Then Sven comes along. And Ivo. And I realise I am riding with a truly great bunch of people. Sven has a few clean washers with him that he gives me to clean up the blood. But my knee has a hole in it - and a very tiny bit of fatty tissue is hanging out of it. I'm shocked and I know that normally I'd be okay to clean up a wound like that on someone else no worries, but I'm really shaken up. I have a few bits of first aid kit in my camelbak (which is actually a blackwolf and not a camelbak at all hahaha) and manage to patch myself up ok for the time being. I slowly check the rest of me over and note that my right shoulder is bruised, my left elbow and wrist is sore too.
I get up with help from Paul & Sven & Ivo and go sit under the tree for a bit. Paul is great and hechecks my bike and I'm lucky I've only put one of my bar ends out of alignment so Mitch is Ok, that's easy to fix. He waits with me because I'm still shaking and there's tears in the corners of my eyes but I'm trying not to cry. I know I'm ok but I can't stop shaking. I contemplate keeping riding but my knee hurts, and my elbow won't let me tie my hair back up which has become loose. Paul calls Shanny who is sweeping and we figure that the lunch truck is a few hours away so I could sit and wait for it or hitch a ride back to lunch with the locals where there is better first aid supplies and Erin the Medic. We take the latter option and manage to squeeze two bikes and 2 Mzungus into a vehicle, and they're nice guys that drive us 10km back to the lunch truck. Erin manages to give me a bit of a better clean than I can do of myself. I ride the rest of the way to camp on the truck. I look over my helmet closely and my visor is clipped back in, there's a small damage mark just where my right temple lies - helmets are great things that do save lives!!!
Now I have a new nickname - first it was Nubian (because I always collect dust and turn up to camp and lunch black like a person from the Nubian Desert), then the Mysterious One (I'm not going to write an explanation of that one here because it is complicated) and now I'm Hop-a-long.
Today I ride the truck because my knee is quite swollen but I think it's getting better, and although I'm stiff nothing feels like its broken. Just need to keep up the Ibuprofen!!!
The next 3 days are non riding days and I'm going on safari!!! Excitement +. And I don't doubt that my bruises will be sufficiently healed for me to jump back on my bike the next riding day :)
I forgot to write before I realised when I was writing my reflections about the greatest things about this trip. Here they are:
- Flying downhills at anything up to 77km/hr so far!
- the personal satisfaction of riding a hard day
- Being able to see the culture without the barriers you get when travelling in a vehicle
- Camping every night - although I'm frustrated by my tent sometimes I'm still not sick of camping
- riding lots and lots
- bargaining in markets (I bought a plate the other day for 180 kenyan shillings which I got down from 2700!!!)
- seeing wildlife
- camp cooking!!! I love it!
- the wonderful carefree feeling you get from spending so much time outdoors
Even in my battered and bruised state that I'm in today I still manage to have a great day.
The challenge continues as we ride through Kenya
*** I wrote this blog entry about a week ago now and haven't been able to post it until now!!! - sorry my blogs out of order now!***
As we descend out of the hills of Ethiopia we hit more unpaved empty roads in the northern desert of Kenya. The roads are rough and bumpy covered in LAVA ROCK! Not nice stuff to pedal on!!! And they call it a highway - average speed for our trucks is 18km/hr! Bicycle is faster sometimes. But me and Mitch the Rockhopper are both tough and handle it ok (although we did truck it for 30km the other day due to a sore knee – feeling good today although it’s a rest day today so it doesn’t have to ride!).
2 nights ago we have our first proper rain. I would like to be as proud of my tent as I am with Mitch the Rockhopper however if I didn’t have such a big addiction to camping I think I would be seriously considering in a new home for the rest of the trip. You see, my tent as lovely as it holds up camping in Aus, just doesn’t like the strong winds you get out in the desert. It won’t stand up without pegs (and sometimes it’s hard to get your pegs in tough ground, or equally tough to get it to stand up in super soft sand!!! The other night however it had a true challenge - lots of wind and rain at the same time – I took a photo and will one day hopefully be able to post it here but this whole continent is doomed with dodgy internet access and sometimes its as much as I can do to actually post these blogs. Thankfully it stayed relatively dry inside but I was surprised. Then last night we were camped in a beautiful campsite in Marsabit Wildlife Reserve – which has baboons everywhere!!! Unfortunately I had to choose the baboon toilet tree to pitch my tent under!!!! I thought there was a few heavy drops of rain over night but when I got up this morning I found that there was a heap of baboon faeces waiting for me to clean up… It was seriously gross –there’s another photo that I’ll post here one day!!! I’m usually ok with that kind of stuff but it was everywhere… everyone had a good laugh who walked passed me this morning cleaning it off… now it looks ok but still smells like baboon manure…. Maybe will spray some perfume on it see if it improves!!! Despite this I still plan to EFT this journey (Every F******* night in a Tent). Haven’t had the urge to take a hotel room yet and aren’t sick of camping despite my tent (which is also the smallest on tour) or my thermarest which has a cancer (this is what happens when your sleeping mat lining comes away from the cells and a big bubble of air creates a tumour which in this case is sadly malignant and I can’t blow up my mat anymore – its still comfy enough with my little 1/2cm thick foam mat underneath it though!!!
Today is a rest day and the thing I like most about rest days is taking a shower. Our vision of a nice shower has changed. All you need is 4 walls and running water and that is a nice shower. Hot water is a luxury. A hook on the back of the door to hang your stuff is a bonus. Yesterday we got to camp to find no water so it was a bucket bath instead. I get the chance to update this blog about the same amount of times as I get to take a shower. Kenya is hard to get water so we’re not allowed to even take a water bottle shower on riding days – it’s strictly baby wipes inside the tent.
Nairobi is the halfway mark and lifes meant to get easier after that!
As we descend out of the hills of Ethiopia we hit more unpaved empty roads in the northern desert of Kenya. The roads are rough and bumpy covered in LAVA ROCK! Not nice stuff to pedal on!!! And they call it a highway - average speed for our trucks is 18km/hr! Bicycle is faster sometimes. But me and Mitch the Rockhopper are both tough and handle it ok (although we did truck it for 30km the other day due to a sore knee – feeling good today although it’s a rest day today so it doesn’t have to ride!).
2 nights ago we have our first proper rain. I would like to be as proud of my tent as I am with Mitch the Rockhopper however if I didn’t have such a big addiction to camping I think I would be seriously considering in a new home for the rest of the trip. You see, my tent as lovely as it holds up camping in Aus, just doesn’t like the strong winds you get out in the desert. It won’t stand up without pegs (and sometimes it’s hard to get your pegs in tough ground, or equally tough to get it to stand up in super soft sand!!! The other night however it had a true challenge - lots of wind and rain at the same time – I took a photo and will one day hopefully be able to post it here but this whole continent is doomed with dodgy internet access and sometimes its as much as I can do to actually post these blogs. Thankfully it stayed relatively dry inside but I was surprised. Then last night we were camped in a beautiful campsite in Marsabit Wildlife Reserve – which has baboons everywhere!!! Unfortunately I had to choose the baboon toilet tree to pitch my tent under!!!! I thought there was a few heavy drops of rain over night but when I got up this morning I found that there was a heap of baboon faeces waiting for me to clean up… It was seriously gross –there’s another photo that I’ll post here one day!!! I’m usually ok with that kind of stuff but it was everywhere… everyone had a good laugh who walked passed me this morning cleaning it off… now it looks ok but still smells like baboon manure…. Maybe will spray some perfume on it see if it improves!!! Despite this I still plan to EFT this journey (Every F******* night in a Tent). Haven’t had the urge to take a hotel room yet and aren’t sick of camping despite my tent (which is also the smallest on tour) or my thermarest which has a cancer (this is what happens when your sleeping mat lining comes away from the cells and a big bubble of air creates a tumour which in this case is sadly malignant and I can’t blow up my mat anymore – its still comfy enough with my little 1/2cm thick foam mat underneath it though!!!
Today is a rest day and the thing I like most about rest days is taking a shower. Our vision of a nice shower has changed. All you need is 4 walls and running water and that is a nice shower. Hot water is a luxury. A hook on the back of the door to hang your stuff is a bonus. Yesterday we got to camp to find no water so it was a bucket bath instead. I get the chance to update this blog about the same amount of times as I get to take a shower. Kenya is hard to get water so we’re not allowed to even take a water bottle shower on riding days – it’s strictly baby wipes inside the tent.
Nairobi is the halfway mark and lifes meant to get easier after that!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A typical day in the life
Wake up is around 6 and for me I don't need an alarm - the noise of everyone else deflating thermarests, folding up tent poles is enough. I put my cycling gear on, cream up (a very important part of the day for the prevention of saddle sores!) pack up my tent and gear inside my tent. Then it's time for breakfast which is typically either oats, cornmeal, and bread and spreads. I put my sunscreen on, make sure all my gear is in my locker on the truck and jump on my bike and start my ride.
I usually ride alone because I like a bit of personal space and we live and camp quite close to each other. But sometimes I ride with Sven, and sometimes with Jolyane. And sometimes with someone else. I usually ride non stop to lunch which somewhere between 40-75km from camp depending on the road and how far we are riding that day. If it is a hard day I might stop for an energy bar though.
Lunch is bread and tuna, egg, or cheese, and bread a spreads. I usually arrive at lunch between 10 and 11am. I fill up on water and reapply my sunscreen so I don't burn like crazy with the malaria tablets I take and jump back on my bike, trying to cover as many kms I can before it gets quite hot.
Then its back on the bike and time to keep pedalling. If there's a coke stop somwhere halfway between lunch and camp then I'll stop and get coke, or ginger beer, or fanta. And its amazing how so many people who don't drink much soft drink back home all crave coke - it's cold, its sweet, it contains energy.... and caffeine :)
When I get to camp I make sure I drink. Then I go help out in the kitchen to help get dinner ready - this is a highly optional activity that is always appreciated by the staff. There's 65 mouths to feed and lots of stuff to chop. Lots of garlic to peel. Lots of beans to top and tail. Beetroot peeling. I like helping though. Mostly I like it on the principal that I'm not here for a luxury expedition and helping cook food makes me feel like I'm not taking the easy way out. Eddie (our current local guide) jokes that the first thing I do after I jump off my bike is head straight for the kitchen.
I set up my tent and then there's a rider meeting around 5:30pm then dinner after the rider meeting.
Bed time is never long after dark after such a long day. And I always sleep well.
I usually ride alone because I like a bit of personal space and we live and camp quite close to each other. But sometimes I ride with Sven, and sometimes with Jolyane. And sometimes with someone else. I usually ride non stop to lunch which somewhere between 40-75km from camp depending on the road and how far we are riding that day. If it is a hard day I might stop for an energy bar though.
Lunch is bread and tuna, egg, or cheese, and bread a spreads. I usually arrive at lunch between 10 and 11am. I fill up on water and reapply my sunscreen so I don't burn like crazy with the malaria tablets I take and jump back on my bike, trying to cover as many kms I can before it gets quite hot.
Then its back on the bike and time to keep pedalling. If there's a coke stop somwhere halfway between lunch and camp then I'll stop and get coke, or ginger beer, or fanta. And its amazing how so many people who don't drink much soft drink back home all crave coke - it's cold, its sweet, it contains energy.... and caffeine :)
When I get to camp I make sure I drink. Then I go help out in the kitchen to help get dinner ready - this is a highly optional activity that is always appreciated by the staff. There's 65 mouths to feed and lots of stuff to chop. Lots of garlic to peel. Lots of beans to top and tail. Beetroot peeling. I like helping though. Mostly I like it on the principal that I'm not here for a luxury expedition and helping cook food makes me feel like I'm not taking the easy way out. Eddie (our current local guide) jokes that the first thing I do after I jump off my bike is head straight for the kitchen.
I set up my tent and then there's a rider meeting around 5:30pm then dinner after the rider meeting.
Bed time is never long after dark after such a long day. And I always sleep well.
Halfway reflections
I'm in Nairobi! The halfway point in terms of time (still more than halfway on distance however) so thought I'd take a moment to reflect on my expedition so far!
What has the biggest challenge been so far?
I can't single out one challenge to be the biggest but there have surely been plenty of them as I make my journey southwards. Each country presents a new challenge -
- in Egypt it was getting used to long days in the saddle, headwind on the first day.
- the sand of Sudan
- The hills, rocks & kids that throw the rocks at you in Ethiopia. And riding at altitude where the air is thin. And the endless calls of "you-you-you how are you?" and although the caller doesn't care how you are they still want a reply from you.
- The corrugated unpaved road of northern Kenya called the "trans east african highway" although us Mzungu (white people) struggle to understand how such a road can possibly be called a highway!
- and next we have the mud of Tanzania to look forward to!!!
But there have been other challenges too for example:
- pitching my tent in the sand
- internet access that simply frustrates because it will work and I'll write a long piece of blog and then loose it - I have a previous blog saved on Tims USB stick at the moment but he doesn't happen to be here right now so now my blog is going to be out of order slightly!
- The time I pitched my tent right under the Baboon Toilet Tree (and I thought there were a few heavy drops of rain overnight! - something else to clean in the morning)
- The number of times I'm out on my bike and there's an oncoming truck passing an oncoming truck (and suddenly I'm riding my bike off the road and in the dirt to keep alive!!!)
- Spending every night so far in my little tent (which is the smallest tent on tour) on my little thermarest which sadly has cancer and no longer inflates!
- On the bike riding up hills in Ethiopia shouting "Salamno" to all the billions of kids you see in hope that they won't throw rocks at you.
- Knowing that there is showering facilities at the camp that you're going to only to find that when you get there there's no water!
But now I recall the BIGGEST challenge for me. The biggest challenge was riding when I wasn't well, and when my knee was sore. And jumping on the truck. Jumping on the truck for me is a huge mental challenge which I have done for 200 of the roughly 5500km of this trip so far and I have only done it when I haven't been well, and taken another 30km to rest my knee which was sore for a while. But everytime I ride the truck I feel like I'm cheating although really I know I'm actually being smart. It still doesn't feel as good at the end of the day when you rock up in the truck knowing that everyone else has worked hard to be at the designated campsite that night.
How do I feel?
Good. Really good. I love this lifestyle. I love only thinking about riding everyday and only having to worry about keeping my feet turning. My neck no longer aches. My quads no longer burn. I have sensation in all my fingers again :)
What have I been eating?
An awful lot. I eat 3 times as much as before I left home I think!!! I eat what they serve on riding days and on rest days I try to eat as local as food comes depending on where we are. And that includes the Ethiopian injera designed to make you fart, and made many riders sick with GI upset (myself included thankfully only to a mild degree)
What has the biggest challenge been so far?
I can't single out one challenge to be the biggest but there have surely been plenty of them as I make my journey southwards. Each country presents a new challenge -
- in Egypt it was getting used to long days in the saddle, headwind on the first day.
- the sand of Sudan
- The hills, rocks & kids that throw the rocks at you in Ethiopia. And riding at altitude where the air is thin. And the endless calls of "you-you-you how are you?" and although the caller doesn't care how you are they still want a reply from you.
- The corrugated unpaved road of northern Kenya called the "trans east african highway" although us Mzungu (white people) struggle to understand how such a road can possibly be called a highway!
- and next we have the mud of Tanzania to look forward to!!!
But there have been other challenges too for example:
- pitching my tent in the sand
- internet access that simply frustrates because it will work and I'll write a long piece of blog and then loose it - I have a previous blog saved on Tims USB stick at the moment but he doesn't happen to be here right now so now my blog is going to be out of order slightly!
- The time I pitched my tent right under the Baboon Toilet Tree (and I thought there were a few heavy drops of rain overnight! - something else to clean in the morning)
- The number of times I'm out on my bike and there's an oncoming truck passing an oncoming truck (and suddenly I'm riding my bike off the road and in the dirt to keep alive!!!)
- Spending every night so far in my little tent (which is the smallest tent on tour) on my little thermarest which sadly has cancer and no longer inflates!
- On the bike riding up hills in Ethiopia shouting "Salamno" to all the billions of kids you see in hope that they won't throw rocks at you.
- Knowing that there is showering facilities at the camp that you're going to only to find that when you get there there's no water!
But now I recall the BIGGEST challenge for me. The biggest challenge was riding when I wasn't well, and when my knee was sore. And jumping on the truck. Jumping on the truck for me is a huge mental challenge which I have done for 200 of the roughly 5500km of this trip so far and I have only done it when I haven't been well, and taken another 30km to rest my knee which was sore for a while. But everytime I ride the truck I feel like I'm cheating although really I know I'm actually being smart. It still doesn't feel as good at the end of the day when you rock up in the truck knowing that everyone else has worked hard to be at the designated campsite that night.
How do I feel?
Good. Really good. I love this lifestyle. I love only thinking about riding everyday and only having to worry about keeping my feet turning. My neck no longer aches. My quads no longer burn. I have sensation in all my fingers again :)
What have I been eating?
An awful lot. I eat 3 times as much as before I left home I think!!! I eat what they serve on riding days and on rest days I try to eat as local as food comes depending on where we are. And that includes the Ethiopian injera designed to make you fart, and made many riders sick with GI upset (myself included thankfully only to a mild degree)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Gorge
Well, the second stage of nine is complete and I am proud to say I have been riding recently at 3200m above sea level – the highest point on our tour - and there is definitely a difference in air quality! Pedalling up a beautiful hill is somewhat challenging - the hill is no steeper than usual, it’s not even a particularly long day but the air simply is lacking in oxygen. I try to take a deep breath in but there’s nothing there yet the air is fresh and crisp. The locals as they do yell out there encouragement to me as I go up the hill with their shouts of “you-you-you give me money” or by the little 4 year old kid who sees a foreigner and says “you-money!” I don’t think he even understands what he’s saying but the poverty in this country is definitely visible with almost everyone I pass asking me for money. Sometimes I try to explain that I am a very poor foreigner on a bicycle that would be in a car at this moment if I had money. But that is of course a lie because there is no better way to travel other than by bicycle. Everyone asks where I am going and I don’t think they really care and no one knows where Capetown is so I tell them the next place I am going to – Addis Ababa (which is a mouthful to say when you’re riding up a hill at altitude!).
We have conquered the hardest altitude gain in a single day and our longest climb for the tour – up the Blue Nile Gorge – a truly amazing place with a lovely long decent, and a bugger of a climb – they had a time trial option too which I didn’t take thinking it would be a big enough achievement just to reach the top of the mountain however the staff decided they were going to record my time without me knowing!!! So I had a lovely 20km climb of 1500m up this gorge – stopped twice to eat an energy bar and then find out that I’ve come 5th out of the 8 women who they recorded despite not realizing I was racing… will have to actually race the next opportunity we get…
Anyhow now that I have arrived in Addis there are some great things here. Firstly a DHL office where I received a package from home containing some special handlebar grips to help with my finger numbness, and my aerobars – so that I can have a few more hand positions. Thanks so much for sending them Mum & Dad!!! It is really greatly appreciated. It took a bit of effort getting them once we found the DHL office – the people there insisted it wasn’t there and it wasn’t until Craig actually went back to the cupboard where they keep the packages and was looking through there himself that he found the package… that’s Africa though!
Secondly I just found a place that sells ice cream!!! I haven’t had ice cream since Khartoum. It was great too… hazelnut flavoured mmmmmm…. Might be going back there tomorrow I think!!!
We have conquered the hardest altitude gain in a single day and our longest climb for the tour – up the Blue Nile Gorge – a truly amazing place with a lovely long decent, and a bugger of a climb – they had a time trial option too which I didn’t take thinking it would be a big enough achievement just to reach the top of the mountain however the staff decided they were going to record my time without me knowing!!! So I had a lovely 20km climb of 1500m up this gorge – stopped twice to eat an energy bar and then find out that I’ve come 5th out of the 8 women who they recorded despite not realizing I was racing… will have to actually race the next opportunity we get…
Anyhow now that I have arrived in Addis there are some great things here. Firstly a DHL office where I received a package from home containing some special handlebar grips to help with my finger numbness, and my aerobars – so that I can have a few more hand positions. Thanks so much for sending them Mum & Dad!!! It is really greatly appreciated. It took a bit of effort getting them once we found the DHL office – the people there insisted it wasn’t there and it wasn’t until Craig actually went back to the cupboard where they keep the packages and was looking through there himself that he found the package… that’s Africa though!
Secondly I just found a place that sells ice cream!!! I haven’t had ice cream since Khartoum. It was great too… hazelnut flavoured mmmmmm…. Might be going back there tomorrow I think!!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ethiopia
There’s no other word to describe Ethiopia other than unique. It’s an amazing place and I really love it – it is everything Africa should be and the riding is suddenly challenging with unpaved rolling hills – big ones too. I spent 3 hours climbing up a hill the other day – thought I’d never reach the top!!!
There are rocks everywhere. And children everywhere. And the combination of children and rocks is not a happy one for the foreign cyclist. In one day I get hit twice – once on the shoulder, once on the leg – neither of them bruise though so I’m lucky. Mitch the Rockhopper also gets hit twice – once is a rebound off the road but the other one comes hard and fast right onto him – I don’t know where it hits and I keep pedaling so I’m out of the firing zone and he seems to still be going ok. That night whilst inspecting him I notice that his front wheel is turning stiffly – was wondering why I was pedaling so slow! The disc is pretty bent and I think its time for a replacement but I get Mark the bike doctor to take a look at him first before I perform his surgery – good thing I brought a spare disc! Otherwise Mitch is holding up to the challenges of Africa very well.
But the rock throwing children in Ethiopia is the price one pays to see the rest of the beautiful country. The hills are simply stunning. The culture is truly authentic. The way the people live in the villages is simple yet there is something so beautiful about it that I really can’t put it into words. I’m so frustrated my camera isn’t working!!! The children greet you as you pass “you-you-you – give me pen!” but I don’t have a pen for each Ethiopian child as there is simply so many of them. And the fruit juice here is incredible. They have these really awesome layered fruit juice – avocado, mango, papaya, guava – it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted!!!
There are rocks everywhere. And children everywhere. And the combination of children and rocks is not a happy one for the foreign cyclist. In one day I get hit twice – once on the shoulder, once on the leg – neither of them bruise though so I’m lucky. Mitch the Rockhopper also gets hit twice – once is a rebound off the road but the other one comes hard and fast right onto him – I don’t know where it hits and I keep pedaling so I’m out of the firing zone and he seems to still be going ok. That night whilst inspecting him I notice that his front wheel is turning stiffly – was wondering why I was pedaling so slow! The disc is pretty bent and I think its time for a replacement but I get Mark the bike doctor to take a look at him first before I perform his surgery – good thing I brought a spare disc! Otherwise Mitch is holding up to the challenges of Africa very well.
But the rock throwing children in Ethiopia is the price one pays to see the rest of the beautiful country. The hills are simply stunning. The culture is truly authentic. The way the people live in the villages is simple yet there is something so beautiful about it that I really can’t put it into words. I’m so frustrated my camera isn’t working!!! The children greet you as you pass “you-you-you – give me pen!” but I don’t have a pen for each Ethiopian child as there is simply so many of them. And the fruit juice here is incredible. They have these really awesome layered fruit juice – avocado, mango, papaya, guava – it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted!!!
Struggling ...
I pedal along the flat road in Sudan. I am feeling somewhat unenthusiastic. The road is paved and flat and I'm not feeling so well. There's a big headwind. Quentin and David ride past me and I jump on their wheel and manage to keep with them until lunch. My stomach doesn't feel good so I just eat bread and jam... no tuna today. I force some fluids into me and get back on my bike and keep riding with Quentin and David. When I see Werner at a coke stop (we like coke stops in the afternoons! cold sugar boost mmmmm...) I stop and get something to drink and let them go. We have a 120km to ride against the wind then another 20 after we make a turn... I leave the coke stop with Werner but then he's going too fast. I can't peddle fast with my bellyache! For the first time I miss life back home. I miss family, friends, the dog, my bed, the shower (I love showers - especially hot ones, but any will do - as long as there's a cubicle and running water!) I even miss work. The lunch truck passes and I consider hopping on. I stop for a pee and I also loose an energy bar I just ate. I sit under the only tree I have seen for miles in the shade for a while before I force myself to continue. I keep going and Mark and Alex pass me, see me struggling and offer me a wheel. I take it. They stop at the next coke stop and I keep going, and crawl into camp. I find out that someones watch had measured it had been 42 degrees out in the heat that day. I put up my tent, have a waterbottle shower and go to bed. I can't fit dinner inside my stomach.
The next day I wake up and feel ok. I eat some breakfast and jump on my bike. By lunchtime I'm feeling gross inside and force some energy drink inside me and bread and jam. I keep riding and it's a hot day. I feel thirsty and so I try and suck fluid into me through my camelbak but it's making my stomach feel sore and I can't drink anymore. The lunch truck passes and I give it the thumbs up but 10 minutes later my stomach ache intensifies and I regret the decision. By some coincidence Michel is also not feeling good and because he is behind me the sweep rider has caught up to him and the lunch truck comes back for him. I ride 114km before I give up and jump on the truck. It's my first time on the truck which means I've just lost my EFI. The last 35km is to the Ethiopian border and when I get there I see Frank - another rider who looks like he's on his deathbed with dehydration, he can hardly talk.
That night I remind myself about my life priorities - "number one have fun" and "look after yourself first". And I create a new one - its called "respect for body". So the next day I take a full day in the truck to allow myself to get better!
Thanks for all the emails, blogger comments, facebook messages and comments everyone – I always like to hear from you guys back home so keep them coming and I’m sorry I don’t get a chance to reply to each of you personally.
The next day I wake up and feel ok. I eat some breakfast and jump on my bike. By lunchtime I'm feeling gross inside and force some energy drink inside me and bread and jam. I keep riding and it's a hot day. I feel thirsty and so I try and suck fluid into me through my camelbak but it's making my stomach feel sore and I can't drink anymore. The lunch truck passes and I give it the thumbs up but 10 minutes later my stomach ache intensifies and I regret the decision. By some coincidence Michel is also not feeling good and because he is behind me the sweep rider has caught up to him and the lunch truck comes back for him. I ride 114km before I give up and jump on the truck. It's my first time on the truck which means I've just lost my EFI. The last 35km is to the Ethiopian border and when I get there I see Frank - another rider who looks like he's on his deathbed with dehydration, he can hardly talk.
That night I remind myself about my life priorities - "number one have fun" and "look after yourself first". And I create a new one - its called "respect for body". So the next day I take a full day in the truck to allow myself to get better!
Thanks for all the emails, blogger comments, facebook messages and comments everyone – I always like to hear from you guys back home so keep them coming and I’m sorry I don’t get a chance to reply to each of you personally.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Across the Sahara
We pedalled across the Sahara and into Khartoum and the first section of the ride is complete. It was a beautiful ride on newly paved roads. Sickness spreads through the camp like wild fire with many people violently expelling fluids from both ends of their bodies, and lots of truck riding going on. I'm fortunate to not be affected as yet, and will keep my fingers crossed that it continues to be that way.
The Sahara is in many ways like a beach, and we ride and ride dreaming of finding water and waves to jump into... but they simply don't come. Occasionally we camp near the Nile so we can have a swim there. There is some risk of getting Bilharzia swimming in freshwater throughout Africa but seeing its a disease that is easily treated I think it's worth the risk.
In Khartoum I had my first proper shower in 9 days, and I'm now feeling much much fresher. Today I actually sat on a toilet twice in one day - it's been two weeks since I last did that!!!
I have now pedalled the entire distance between Cairo and Khartoum and my body is handling it pretty well... despite a bit of finger numbness, mild chafing down under, all else is well!!!
The Sahara is in many ways like a beach, and we ride and ride dreaming of finding water and waves to jump into... but they simply don't come. Occasionally we camp near the Nile so we can have a swim there. There is some risk of getting Bilharzia swimming in freshwater throughout Africa but seeing its a disease that is easily treated I think it's worth the risk.
In Khartoum I had my first proper shower in 9 days, and I'm now feeling much much fresher. Today I actually sat on a toilet twice in one day - it's been two weeks since I last did that!!!
I have now pedalled the entire distance between Cairo and Khartoum and my body is handling it pretty well... despite a bit of finger numbness, mild chafing down under, all else is well!!!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Desert Dust
The town of Dongola now has internet access so I am able to update this blog sooner than I thought. The connection is still slow so still no photos (and my camera is back at the zoo where we're camped charging).
Sudan is I think the nicest place I have ever been. The people are so friendly and giving. The majority of the road between Wadi Halfa and Dongola where I am now has been mostly unpaved which most of the mountain bikers prefer! The roadies ride on but have a tougher time without suspension. Many of the riders are struggle more in the heat so I'm feeling lucky I've come here from the heat and aren't having such a rough time adapting. My long dose of Doxycycline had commenced which means that those taking the doxy are more prone to sunburn. I apply my sunscreen religiously and haven't been burnt yet but I reckon I'm going to come home with a very sexy cycling tan!!! I have the beginnings of a sunnies tan now too, as well as a glove tan, finger tan, knicks tan, t-shirt tan... there'll probably be a helmet strap tan too before long!!! Sudan is mostly desert so it has a low population level, clean air, strong sun. The sand is very fine - like dust and it gets everywhere. My clothes that were once white are now nowhere close to their original colour - I did a heap of washing today too and it just wouldn't come out. It coats my tent, and my body. Worst its through my camera which makes its functionality very temperamental (I'm hoping it will behave better after its finished charging because now the zoom doesn't work, the lens takes a lot of fiddling with before it will close.) At the end of a days cycle it coats my arms, legs and clothing (which is a good thing because it provides protection against the sun). Depending on where we're camped depends on how well we can wash. Sometimes we can go for a swim in the Nile, sometimes we're allowed to fill a 750ml drinkbottle to use as our shower. You'd be surprised at how refreshing it is though.
I stopped between villages the other day when I was greeted by a boy and he asked me to sit in the shade for a while which I did because it was the middle of the day, and I could feel the sun burning my skin. His dad made me a cup of tea and fed me some dates (I think the water for the tea may have come straight from the Nile but it didn't make me sick)... very nice of him... then he decided he wanted to kiss me at which point I decided it was time to leave. I get so used to hanging out in my lycra I forget that I probably look like a prostitute to some of these people... I carry a sarong in my backpack and have since made a point of putting it on when I stop!
I quit the race because this place is so amazing and I like taking the time to stop in some of the villages, chat to some of the kids, and leave when I want to leave instead of when the racers leave. The plan was never to race this thing anyway.
Sadly the road from Dongola to Khartoum, and Khartoum to the Ethiopian border has all now been paved so I have put the slicks back on my bike, and am now looking forward to getting to Ethiopia where the pavement ends - even if the kids do throw rocks and try to put sticks in between your spokes!!!
Sudan is I think the nicest place I have ever been. The people are so friendly and giving. The majority of the road between Wadi Halfa and Dongola where I am now has been mostly unpaved which most of the mountain bikers prefer! The roadies ride on but have a tougher time without suspension. Many of the riders are struggle more in the heat so I'm feeling lucky I've come here from the heat and aren't having such a rough time adapting. My long dose of Doxycycline had commenced which means that those taking the doxy are more prone to sunburn. I apply my sunscreen religiously and haven't been burnt yet but I reckon I'm going to come home with a very sexy cycling tan!!! I have the beginnings of a sunnies tan now too, as well as a glove tan, finger tan, knicks tan, t-shirt tan... there'll probably be a helmet strap tan too before long!!! Sudan is mostly desert so it has a low population level, clean air, strong sun. The sand is very fine - like dust and it gets everywhere. My clothes that were once white are now nowhere close to their original colour - I did a heap of washing today too and it just wouldn't come out. It coats my tent, and my body. Worst its through my camera which makes its functionality very temperamental (I'm hoping it will behave better after its finished charging because now the zoom doesn't work, the lens takes a lot of fiddling with before it will close.) At the end of a days cycle it coats my arms, legs and clothing (which is a good thing because it provides protection against the sun). Depending on where we're camped depends on how well we can wash. Sometimes we can go for a swim in the Nile, sometimes we're allowed to fill a 750ml drinkbottle to use as our shower. You'd be surprised at how refreshing it is though.
I stopped between villages the other day when I was greeted by a boy and he asked me to sit in the shade for a while which I did because it was the middle of the day, and I could feel the sun burning my skin. His dad made me a cup of tea and fed me some dates (I think the water for the tea may have come straight from the Nile but it didn't make me sick)... very nice of him... then he decided he wanted to kiss me at which point I decided it was time to leave. I get so used to hanging out in my lycra I forget that I probably look like a prostitute to some of these people... I carry a sarong in my backpack and have since made a point of putting it on when I stop!
I quit the race because this place is so amazing and I like taking the time to stop in some of the villages, chat to some of the kids, and leave when I want to leave instead of when the racers leave. The plan was never to race this thing anyway.
Sadly the road from Dongola to Khartoum, and Khartoum to the Ethiopian border has all now been paved so I have put the slicks back on my bike, and am now looking forward to getting to Ethiopia where the pavement ends - even if the kids do throw rocks and try to put sticks in between your spokes!!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
1000km gone
Well sorry about the lack of pictures on here... web connection is really slow and everyone is frustrated at not being able to do it.
We made it to Idfu yesterday, and today kept pedalling on to Aswan which means we have now kicked over the first 1000kms of the tour. It's amazing how fast it's gone (and also how fast my MTB can go too!!! - managed to cover 113kms today at an average of 29.5km/h).
My racing endeavours continue because I don't believe in quitting so I'm going to finish the section to Khartoum at any rate. Todays race was the first 60km and I managed to stay with the pack until just before the end... the MTB still feels strange to sprint on!!! And when some of the people in the pack are boys with cyclocrosses me on my lovely red Rockhopper just seems to fall off the back. Finished only 1 min behind the pack today anyway, better than the 12mins yesterday!!!! Very strange race situations. Sometimes there'll be a railway the entire pack has to stop at to wait 10mins for a train to go by before we can continue... and there's lots of donkeys on the road, traffic moving everywhere, and potholes potholes potholes.
Aswan is much nicer than Idfu. I went exploring around town with Sonja in Idfu and the kids were crazy, pulling on our bikes trying to make us come off... improves our balance at any rate!!! We camped in the local soccer stadium grounds.
So now we're in Aswan and Aswan is the last place for internet (and beer too!) until we reach Ethiopia so I won't be able to update this blog again until a while!!!
Mum & Dad - thanks for your email update - always good to know what's happening back home. Dad your new car sounds like a great idea what colour is it?- I don't think you'll regret the choice!!! Tassie is beautiful - think I'm headed back there on my next adventure perhaps!
We made it to Idfu yesterday, and today kept pedalling on to Aswan which means we have now kicked over the first 1000kms of the tour. It's amazing how fast it's gone (and also how fast my MTB can go too!!! - managed to cover 113kms today at an average of 29.5km/h).
My racing endeavours continue because I don't believe in quitting so I'm going to finish the section to Khartoum at any rate. Todays race was the first 60km and I managed to stay with the pack until just before the end... the MTB still feels strange to sprint on!!! And when some of the people in the pack are boys with cyclocrosses me on my lovely red Rockhopper just seems to fall off the back. Finished only 1 min behind the pack today anyway, better than the 12mins yesterday!!!! Very strange race situations. Sometimes there'll be a railway the entire pack has to stop at to wait 10mins for a train to go by before we can continue... and there's lots of donkeys on the road, traffic moving everywhere, and potholes potholes potholes.
Aswan is much nicer than Idfu. I went exploring around town with Sonja in Idfu and the kids were crazy, pulling on our bikes trying to make us come off... improves our balance at any rate!!! We camped in the local soccer stadium grounds.
So now we're in Aswan and Aswan is the last place for internet (and beer too!) until we reach Ethiopia so I won't be able to update this blog again until a while!!!
Mum & Dad - thanks for your email update - always good to know what's happening back home. Dad your new car sounds like a great idea what colour is it?- I don't think you'll regret the choice!!! Tassie is beautiful - think I'm headed back there on my next adventure perhaps!
Friday, January 16, 2009
LUXOR - rest day
Well... I am enjoying an easy day here in Luxor. After I wrote my last message I made my way back across the Nile on the ferry where I met a man called Mahmoud. Mahmoud was a horse and cart driver and offered me a ride in his "ferrari" for 5 egyptian pounds to see the market and the bazaar and then take me back to my "hotel" (which is actually my tent which is set up in the grounds of Rezeiki camp). I initially refused until he offered me the same trip for only 2 pounds, I decided my legs were quite tired and it might be worth a tour of Luxor. So I got on and had a full city tour of Luxor... and then he stopped and bought some meat... and then offered to take me back to his house and make me dinner. I had already told him I am already married as well... I seriously need to buy a ring or something I think and actually wear that head scarf I bought!!! Anyhow, I didn't get offered any more camels from him because I did tell him I was already married, however he asked how many camels for my sister and offered a million - so there you are Janey - you're worth more than me! If things don't work out with Jim one day you can come to Luxor to meet Mahmoud. I refused his offer of dinner at his house aswell. So he invited me to a party instead. Which I also refused.
I'm very excited because I'm getting bar ends for my bike in Khartoum. Lone has lent me hers in the meantime, which was very kind of her. Hopefully the fingers will get a little less numb soon!!! Thanks heaps Plenty for sending them to Quentin!!!!
Today has been a bit less exciting... I cleaned my bike, then went for lunch and ate an entire half chicken. Very tasty. Then walked back through the markets. Bought some fresh dates which I have been eating and have just thought that i probably should have washed them first. Hope the stomach will continue to be tough!!! They also sell viagra at the date shop if anyone reading this ever comes here and needs any. I didn't buy any but the man said he could sell it to me for a good price! Next I'm headed back to camp to clean up my tent - which is just as thrilling as cleaning my room only I actually can't porocrastinate doing it as I have to pack it away tomorrow morning as we're peddling to Idfu and then Aswan the following day where we hop on a boat and cruise down to Wadi Halfa to enter Sudan! I'm very excited about Sudan but think that there won't be much internet access.
Beth and Irene - thought I should let you guys know Bike Mechanic Dude is already taken :( didn't get in quick enough. He was already hooked up with the medic before they came here!
My phone has caught up to me too 100 egyptian pounds later.... but it has a flat battery and there's no power sockets inside my tent!!!
I'm very excited because I'm getting bar ends for my bike in Khartoum. Lone has lent me hers in the meantime, which was very kind of her. Hopefully the fingers will get a little less numb soon!!! Thanks heaps Plenty for sending them to Quentin!!!!
Today has been a bit less exciting... I cleaned my bike, then went for lunch and ate an entire half chicken. Very tasty. Then walked back through the markets. Bought some fresh dates which I have been eating and have just thought that i probably should have washed them first. Hope the stomach will continue to be tough!!! They also sell viagra at the date shop if anyone reading this ever comes here and needs any. I didn't buy any but the man said he could sell it to me for a good price! Next I'm headed back to camp to clean up my tent - which is just as thrilling as cleaning my room only I actually can't porocrastinate doing it as I have to pack it away tomorrow morning as we're peddling to Idfu and then Aswan the following day where we hop on a boat and cruise down to Wadi Halfa to enter Sudan! I'm very excited about Sudan but think that there won't be much internet access.
Beth and Irene - thought I should let you guys know Bike Mechanic Dude is already taken :( didn't get in quick enough. He was already hooked up with the medic before they came here!
My phone has caught up to me too 100 egyptian pounds later.... but it has a flat battery and there's no power sockets inside my tent!!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
from SAFAGA we went west to LUXOR!
It has taken us two days to ride from Safaga to Luxor and we were blessed with tail winds making the "toughest day in Egypt" easier than the first two days! The 40km hill climb was easy enough and the promised headwind on the downhill to follow which usually makes the section harder than the climb never came.
Today we returned to cycle along the fertile farmland along the banks of the Nile, providing us with a big change of scenery to the nothingness of the desert that we have passed through.
Suddenly all of the kids in the villages we pass through line the streets. Some are kind, yelling out their greetings of "hello, how are you, what is your name?" while others are more aggressive and wait for the next cyclist with rocks in their hands ready to throw as you ride past... Haven't come off yet.
There are many more cars, narrower streets, and plenty of donkeys and donkey poo to avoid running into!
But now I'm in Luxor, having just completed a failed mission to find some bar ends to attach to the ends of my handlebars to stop my fingers going numb. It was an interesting mission anyhow, I had to go across the cross river local ferry by myself. Met some nice Arabic girls however who were friendly and spoke only a tiny bit more english than I do arabic. We had some kind of very giggly conversation because neither of us could understand eachother. At least sitting near them meant that I didn't get another marriage proposals- which happen so frequently I am tired of rejecting them even if they do involve camels... if anyone's ever desperate for men come to Egypt - they're everywhere and will propose if you're only talking to them for a few minutes!!! Anyhow, I'm hoping I can get some bar ends brought over from a sectional rider when we reach Khartoum. Fingers crossed while I still can cross them!!!
Looking forward to a well deserved rest day in Luxor tomorrow anyway!!!
Today we returned to cycle along the fertile farmland along the banks of the Nile, providing us with a big change of scenery to the nothingness of the desert that we have passed through.
Suddenly all of the kids in the villages we pass through line the streets. Some are kind, yelling out their greetings of "hello, how are you, what is your name?" while others are more aggressive and wait for the next cyclist with rocks in their hands ready to throw as you ride past... Haven't come off yet.
There are many more cars, narrower streets, and plenty of donkeys and donkey poo to avoid running into!
But now I'm in Luxor, having just completed a failed mission to find some bar ends to attach to the ends of my handlebars to stop my fingers going numb. It was an interesting mission anyhow, I had to go across the cross river local ferry by myself. Met some nice Arabic girls however who were friendly and spoke only a tiny bit more english than I do arabic. We had some kind of very giggly conversation because neither of us could understand eachother. At least sitting near them meant that I didn't get another marriage proposals- which happen so frequently I am tired of rejecting them even if they do involve camels... if anyone's ever desperate for men come to Egypt - they're everywhere and will propose if you're only talking to them for a few minutes!!! Anyhow, I'm hoping I can get some bar ends brought over from a sectional rider when we reach Khartoum. Fingers crossed while I still can cross them!!!
Looking forward to a well deserved rest day in Luxor tomorrow anyway!!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The first few days...
Firstly apologies for not updating this blog earlier. Internet access in Cairo was dodgy and my patience wore short! Managed to get my visa for Sudan with no worries - took most of the entire day hanging around the sudanese embassy though. Had a few days up my sleave so I went out of Cairo to a beautiful place called the white desert. Have some nice pics but as I said before internet access is dodgy so I'm not uploading anything today sorry!!!
Been riding 4 days now and the first two were pretty nasty - I decided to at the last minute register as a racer rather than as an expedition rider as I had originally planned and am now regretting the decision as I spend most of my mornings staring at a wheel in front of me trying to keep up with the racing pack - I managed to stick with them for the first 50km on the first day but after that let myself get dropped. So I'm coming 4th out of the 5 girls that are racing but am seriously considering giving up the race so i can just ride and look up, enjoy the vast desert around me. We've had some good riding so far, the first day was the nastiest - 123km battling headwinds out of Cairo meant we formed pelotons pretty fast working as a team pulling turns out the front. The second day we did 168km from our desert camp to the next desert camp - a long way but beautiful tail winds meant it wasn't as hard as the first day. I let myself get a biut dehydrated that day and was feeling very tired after 100kms. Today and yesterday we have been feeling spoilt because we did 133km, then today only 100km with more beautiful tailwinds so easy riding. We have police escorts when we ride and they tend to enjoy following packs of girls - don't think many egyptian women go around wearing lycra! Today I rode most of my day alone but still picked up a police car who followed me maybe 40km of my day!
I'm in a town at the moment called Safaga, and it's the first time in 4 days since I've had a shower so I'm feeling nice and fresh again.
They feed us really well - the chef on tour can cook well. Breakfast is porridge or breads and spreads or both plus fruit. Lunch is some kind of meat/eggs/tuna (source of protein) plus bread. When we reach camp we get some nice salty high protein soup to help keep the fluids up. Dinner is carb rich and protein rich - rice/pasta/couscous and some kind of meat and veggies with lots of spices to make it nice and tasty. In addition to this we can fill up water bottles with energy drink and we get a box of 20 energy bars to last us 10 days.
I'm having a great time anyway - enjoying the sealed flat roads of Egypt. I'm not surprising a little sore but nothing too terrible - quads are aching slightly but that's not as bad as the pain at the base of my neck. Only mildly saddle sore at this stage and hoping it stays this way - there's so much sand around and it gets everywhere - the last place you need sand is inside your cycling knicks!!!
Anyhow - only 2 more days until its time for a rest day and one of those days is meant to be the hardest Egypt day so I'm looking forward to getting that one out of the way!!!
Hope this message finds all of you well - I lost my phone in the hotel in Cairo sorry Mum & Dad - they have found it and I might be getting it back fingers crossed - there is advantages in having a phone with a massive crack down the screen!!!
Been riding 4 days now and the first two were pretty nasty - I decided to at the last minute register as a racer rather than as an expedition rider as I had originally planned and am now regretting the decision as I spend most of my mornings staring at a wheel in front of me trying to keep up with the racing pack - I managed to stick with them for the first 50km on the first day but after that let myself get dropped. So I'm coming 4th out of the 5 girls that are racing but am seriously considering giving up the race so i can just ride and look up, enjoy the vast desert around me. We've had some good riding so far, the first day was the nastiest - 123km battling headwinds out of Cairo meant we formed pelotons pretty fast working as a team pulling turns out the front. The second day we did 168km from our desert camp to the next desert camp - a long way but beautiful tail winds meant it wasn't as hard as the first day. I let myself get a biut dehydrated that day and was feeling very tired after 100kms. Today and yesterday we have been feeling spoilt because we did 133km, then today only 100km with more beautiful tailwinds so easy riding. We have police escorts when we ride and they tend to enjoy following packs of girls - don't think many egyptian women go around wearing lycra! Today I rode most of my day alone but still picked up a police car who followed me maybe 40km of my day!
I'm in a town at the moment called Safaga, and it's the first time in 4 days since I've had a shower so I'm feeling nice and fresh again.
They feed us really well - the chef on tour can cook well. Breakfast is porridge or breads and spreads or both plus fruit. Lunch is some kind of meat/eggs/tuna (source of protein) plus bread. When we reach camp we get some nice salty high protein soup to help keep the fluids up. Dinner is carb rich and protein rich - rice/pasta/couscous and some kind of meat and veggies with lots of spices to make it nice and tasty. In addition to this we can fill up water bottles with energy drink and we get a box of 20 energy bars to last us 10 days.
I'm having a great time anyway - enjoying the sealed flat roads of Egypt. I'm not surprising a little sore but nothing too terrible - quads are aching slightly but that's not as bad as the pain at the base of my neck. Only mildly saddle sore at this stage and hoping it stays this way - there's so much sand around and it gets everywhere - the last place you need sand is inside your cycling knicks!!!
Anyhow - only 2 more days until its time for a rest day and one of those days is meant to be the hardest Egypt day so I'm looking forward to getting that one out of the way!!!
Hope this message finds all of you well - I lost my phone in the hotel in Cairo sorry Mum & Dad - they have found it and I might be getting it back fingers crossed - there is advantages in having a phone with a massive crack down the screen!!!
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