Khartoum to Desert Camp 145kms of Hell.

Today was the start of the next stage of the Cairo to Cape Town cycle tour.  The day started off nice and early with Rodney giving me a wakeup call around 6am.  He does this every day.  So off we go Rodney, Daniel and Andre for a leisurely ride into the desert.

After about 20kms the fast guys came along and I decided to get on the train and go for a ride.  I did turns all the way to the lunch stop at 80kms.  I rushed down my lunch and then headed off again with a sandwich in my hand which was near impossible to get into my stomach.  With a bit of dribbling and spilling half of it over my bike, I was ready for some more serious pain.

With the intense 48 degree heat and strong head/side winds I was cooked at 100kms.  I couldn’t stay with them any longer and dropped off the back of the bunch and drag my arse another 45ks to camp.  Slowly people passed me and I was in all sorts of pain.

With the wind, and no shelter from the searing sun I was hurting big time.  I stopped at one point and sat beside one of the clay pots the locals put out the front of the village filled with water.  I drank as much as I could and poured some over my head.  I know this is wrong the pouring over the head stuff, but I was screwed at this point.

I got back on the bike and headed at about 15kph to a coke stop which felt like heaven.  I was the first at the stop and I devoured 2 cokes, and water and ate some cake.  It still hurt the final 20ks to camp but I made it in intense heat, wind and pain.  Several riders had to get onto the truck to reach camp, it was that hard.

I spent the rest of the evening drinking heaps of water and staying out of the sun.  Even though I didn’t feel like eating I knew how important it was get food into my stomach for tomorrow would be further.  I haven’t felt that bad on a bike for over 30 years.

Desert C amp to Desert Camp 155kms.

I slept in the nude last night because I was roasting in my tent and also to give my entire body the chance to dry out a bit.  I slept like a log and I think it did the trick. 

Like clockwork, “Terry are you awake?” Rodney asks.

“Piss off Rodney and let me sleep”. I replied.

This goes on every morning but I’m glad I found such a nice man to ride with and hang with during the tour.

Today started out nice and easy just to see how the old body was pulling up after yesterdays ride from hell.  It went pretty good for about 30ks then we hit the dirt which was fantastic.  I had changed the rear tire to a rougher tread for more grip in the loose sand and it did work.  The front is the same tire I’ve had on since Cairo, more of a semi road tire.

Rodney and boys fell back but I went ahead to get some time on the old fellas so I could go to the toilet behind the bushes.  I met with the guys minus Andre.  Rodney and I stopped at every coke and tea stop we could find because we knew today was going to be in the high 40s and we need to drink and take as many breaks we could keeping the cut off time in sight at all times.

We did stop and some really nice places and enjoyed tea and soft drinks each time.  As the day progressed Rodney started to slow down, but I never doubted his determination to finish the day on the bike and not in the back of the truck.  As we rode through the last town about 30ks from the finish we were set upon by about 80 students yelling and screaming who decided to throw rocks at us and even hit 2 of my fellow cyclists with bamboo sticks.  Rodney had part of the rack back pulled at and nearly fell into the rear wheels.  I know how to deal with this next time when it happens, and it will, you can count on it.  From here to Ethiopia the kids love to throw rocks, well I love to test out my sling shot on the little bastards next time.

We finally rolled into camp with Rodney really tired.  I felt excellent.  We quickly put up tents and then jumped into the canal which is used by the local people for irrigation and washing clothes and themselves.  I didn’t care as I stunk with sweat and needed to clean off a bit.  Had a really nice dinner and now time to hit the sack.  The internet is not working in this remote part of Sudan.  Will probably have to wait another 5 days till we reach Gondar in Ethiopia.  Tomorrow is 100ks of dirt.

Desert Camp to Desert Camp 87kms of Hell.       

The day started off nice and easy with about 15kms of tar before the tour finally hit some serious dirt.  For the next 5 hours we bumped and stopped and slowed down as Rodney was not his usual self.  The temperature was going through the roof and I thought it was far too hot to be cycling in this part of Sudan.  At the end of the day one of the cyclists said the temperature was 48 degrees.  On these baron roads with no protection from the sun is so exhausting, and impossible to describe.  Basically I could cook an egg off my ass it was so bloody hot.  Even sitting in the tent typing has sweat dripping off me.

I was concerned about Rodney’s health because he was going so slow and that meant I would be out in the sun much longer than I wanted to be.  I got one of the girls to SMS the boss who in turn contacted the medic to come to the little coke stop and have him assessed.  End result, blood pressure very low and not safe to continue in this heat.  Rodney was now on the truck.  This was the latest I had got to the lunch truck since the start of the tour, around 12.30pm.  This meant riding in the heat of the day.  We rode and rode and rode and finally made it to camp at 4.45pm cooked, shagged, stuffed, burnt, you name it, I was screwed.

The next painful thing was to put that tent up again.  You really have to dig deep to get the strength to do this late in the day.  I sat around waiting for dinner and drank heaps and heaps of water.  The best guide for dehydration is the colour of your urine.  Mine’s good.

I sat up talking to some new friends and went to bed at 8.30pm the latest when out in the remote camps.  I couldn’t fall to sleep as it was boiling in my tent, and finally I dozed off at 10pm.  So many people lost their EFI status.  That means every fabulous inch or if you’re rude like I am, it means every fu…ing inch.  So I’m still EFI, but I don’t care if I lose it during the tour. 

Camp to Camp 95kms of the same punishment.

I paid $13,000.00 dollars to do this trip and for what I’ve put my body through,  is pretty crazy.  Once again I rode with Rodney in the morning following the same abandoned railway track for another 95kms.  Bump after bump, corrugation after corrugation, sand, dust, loose gravel, more bumps, 50 degrees heat, gives you a sore arse, short temper span, sunburn and tiredness.

Rodney decided to get on the truck at lunch as he was not feeling that good and his blood pressure was low again.  I rode off and stopped at the 75km refresh stop and then 85kms under a tree with Andre to cool down, if that’s possible, and then at 90kms when we lost our way and some young boys pointed in the direction of a small village.  We were invited into the home and sat on the man’s bed with other elders and drank tea and water with them.  Now how cool is that to be invited into a strangers home and get the royal treatment.  We walked outside the home and took the mandatory photo’s and then were on our way again to camp at the 95km mark.  I was riding with Andre and I was struggling a bit, but didn’t want to tell him because I’m old and stubborn. 

We made it into camp around 3.30pm and boy was I stuffed.  I drank so much water it took me 3 hours to have a pee.  Now that’s dehydrated.  After a huge meal and heaps of water I’m now in my tent at 7.30pm, dripping sweat everywhere, but the tent is a shithole and I don’t care. 

Time for one of those useless wet wipe showers, put some REM on and go to sleep, I’m stuffed and we’ve got another 85k ms of dirt before we hit the pavement.  At camp the locals come around each evening and check us all out, some go and play soccer with them, but I’m too tired for any of that stuff.

I’ve met a lot of nice people on the thus far, and I’m getting along better with the 2 young girls I might have pissed off earlier on in the tour.  So, it’s good night from a small village on the way to the Ethiopian border.

85kms of hell.

I woke up today feeling pretty ordinary, probably due to the amount of time I’ve spent out in the sun over the past few days.  Today was recorded at 50 degrees with a strong wind.  By the time I made it to the lunch stop I was gone.  I could hardly turn the peddles and if I had been smarter I should have got on the truck for a lift to camp.  I rode on because I’m stupid and had a coke in a small village.  I then walked over to one of the locals and told them I needed to lie down and have a sleep.  I took me to their house and I lay down and had a sleep for 1hour.  It didn’t really help me which is an obvious sign to get off the bike.  No, not me, I battled on in the intense heat over more dirt, sand, corrugations, wheat fields, burning my ass all over the afternoon.  I don’t think I’ve ever been that exhausted on the bike before in my life. 

I ended up being one of the last into camp at 4.45pm, shattered and destroyed.  I obviously heat heat exhaustion.  I didn’t want to drink and food would have made me ill just by the smell of it.  I didn’t have dinner only a up of tea and some dried biscuits.  During the night my tent collapsed on my and now my patience was just about at max.  Dragging myself out of the tent at 12.30am to have a craqp in the woods, then get up 10 minutes later to fix your tent, and have the tent being belted by strong winds all night destroyed me completely.  Well I’;; see how I feel tomorrow.

9^th February 2011. Ride the truck.

Last night was enough to crack anyone, and it did crack me.  I didn’t sleep last night, sweated, cold, pitch tent several times and basically woke up shattered.

I decided to ride the truck and take a day off the bike.  I’m going to take 2 days off the bike so I can completely recover from the belting I’ve given my body lately. It’s also given me a different perspective on the trip, this is a holiday and if you‘re tired you should ride the truck and get into  cap early and relax.  And that’s exactly what I’m doing now.  So today was not out in the burning sun, but relaxing on the truck.  Today we passed from Sudan into Ethiopia.  We’re currently camped in a dust bowl about 5kims inside Ethiopia. The road is now climbing and the roads are more heavily populated with people, grass thatched homes, donkey and carts, trucks, buses, dogs, cows, coats, and through in a couple of feral animals I don’t have a name for at this stage.  Hope to get a good night’s sleep and see what happens tomorrow.

10^th February 2011. Ride the truck for the 2^nd day.

I woke feeling a lot better even without eating dinner last night.  I decided to ride the truck again because of the lingering after affects of the heat exhaustion.  I’m better to take the 3 days off the bike and then the 2 days of rest stop in Gondar and enjoy the break properly and not in a bed.

So for today, up nice and early for my first breakfast of 2 minute noodle soup and a cup of tea.  Stayed down pretty good but still not enough energy food in the stomach.  I rode the truck with Kirsten and Mike, both suffering from heat and stomach issues.  The countryside changed to hills and more hills.  I wouldn’t class them as mountains at this stage although 2 did have similar gradients like the first section of Mt Keira New South Wales, Australia.  I was pretty impressed with the racers as they climbed the hills and the time they finished the 95km stage into the camp.  We stopped at one town in the truck to fill up water in the huge tanks the trucks carry to supply the cyclists insatiable first.  It was pretty cool just sitting back and talking with the locals over a coke and going for a walk around the town.  This is something I really did enjoy doing with Josh when we did the Africa ride, visiting the unknown and not being afraid to do so.

After the donkeys had pulled the water drums up the hill to the truck we were on our way to the lunch stop.  All the way to lunch we were passing the cyclists climb  small climbs in what was pleasant whether at that time of the day.  We only stopped for a brief moment to get some food and had to jump back on the truck to set up camp before the riders arrived.

The camp is situated at 1500metres above sea level about 200km into Ethiopia.  The people are very friendly and extremely kind.  Once I set up camp I went for a walk along the main road which consisted off about 20 cane/grass huts along each side of the road.  I laid down at the front of one in the shade and was soon set upon by about 10 young kids who wanted to know everything about me.  That’s surprising.  I took one the kids school book and gave an English lesson for 30minutes.  We spelt all kinds of words and I wrote them down in his school book.  One of the kids told me the boy would get in trouble because he had writing in his school book which was not covered in class.  Oh well, shit happens.

I went back to camp which was just 20metres off the road behind the houses and waited for a couple of riders to come in.  Eventually Rodney from Israeli/Australia friend turned up.  We went for a walk and had a cup of tea with this lovely lady and then walked on further.  We went inside another house and were having a cup of tea when the local police officer turned up.  I don’t know how he gets to be called a police officer, but when you’re carrying an automatic rifle like an AK47 well I’ll call him ‘Bugs Bunny’ if he wants me to. 

So because I’m a shy person I told him I wanted a photo holding the rifle.  No problem, Rodney took the photo of me holding the rifle in the home and I paid for his beer.  Went back to the campsite and showed the evidence to everyone, pretty impressed they were.

So I had some dinner (not allowed to use the term tea because it confuses the people with a cup of tea) and now ready to hit the sack.  Going to ride the truck into Gondar tomorrow and enjoy my 2 rest days.  Since is the longest I’ve had off the bike since I started training for this trip. 

At this stage no signs of the kids throwing rocks at anyone, but tomorrow will be a certainty.  Thank God I’m on the truck.