5 days and 825kms later, Windhoek, Namibia.



207kms and still standing at the Namibian Border.



A dead Cobra found on the side of the road.

The mighty Rambor Cycling Team

Rambor riding the peleton on the roads of Namibia.

The long straight roads of Namibia, from the back of the bunch.

My sponsor of the final leg into Cape town, South Africa.

25^{th April 2011. 9th Country on tour. ANZAC DAY. Kwaha Lodge Botswana to Eastern Lodge 1km into Namibia. Longest day of tour.} 207kms.
 

Today is the longest day of tour so it was up nice and early after a good nights’ sleep and shovel in as much food as possible for the long day ahead.

We hit the road around 6.40am with the usual group which grew as the morning went on. The road was relatively flat with probably only one noticeable hill. Even a small hill got me breathing heavy. I was still feeling the effects of the past 2 days. Actually we dropped a few from our bunch at this stage.

Within 2 hours of the ride the bluey grey clouds started to roll in and it was much later that we were inundated with the most horrendous rain storm I had seen in years. From being a slight tailwind just minutes before, now we were being pounded by the rain that was coming head on. Our speed had dropped from around 35kph to about 20kph. The rain and continued like this for the next 50kms.
I never thought for one moment before I started this trip that I would gain enough fitness and endurance to be doing the kms we are currently doing and then back it up again the next day.

The rains stops about 10kms out from lunch which gave us a slight reprieve but didn’t help us warm up at all. For those who didn’t bring their rain jackets they were freezing. To think just over a week ago we were sweating in Victoria Falls to now being freezing cold. Thankfully yours truly had his rain jacket and was not cold at all.

So with a nice lunch under my belt it was time again to knock over more of the 135kms remaining for the day. At the 110km mark we stopped at the Petrol Station for a couple of drinks and have a short break. The break didn’t turn out the way it was suppose to. After about 10minutes of sitting around drinking our coke and eating chocolates the clouds started to come in once again. We took a look outside and then it poured down again. I reckon it was now worse than the first storm.
Whilst sitting out the storm other drenched cyclists pulled in to get some shelter from the rain. As soon as the rain stopped we got back on the bikes and continued on. We did have the Botswanan highway patrol behind us for a while. At one stage there were cattle all over the road, so the police pulled over and started to throw rocks at the cow so presumably we would have a safe road to ride on. The officer struck one cow and you should have seen it move. That will teach it, walking on our roads.

The majority of the road since we left Kasane has been dead flat with trees either side of the road. No villages to be seen which is totally different to every other part of Africa we have travelled through. There’s no kids’ yelling out to us for money, only the odd person standing on the side of the road waving us along. The roads are in good condition and the traffic give us cyclists a lot of respect, which at times has not been the case.

I was getting tired once we hit the 180km mark but I knew I had to do my share of the work at the front of the bunch. I managed to do the turns but was very very tired. We rolled into the Botswanan/Nambian border crossing at 3pm. This was a easy process on both sides and soon we were entering our 9th country of the tour. Now how cool is that?
Our rest spot for the night is the Eastern Lodge about 1km from the border crossing. Luke and I once again took a small room because of the campsite was covered in mud, and as I type this story sitting in my little shoe box, it’s now raining. So for the investment of $18 AUS, that’s money well spent.

One of the riders was not allowed into the country because he didn’t have a visa. He’s currently camping on the Botswanan side and will speak to the manager tomorrow with the hope of getting into Namibia.
So day 3 of 5 is now completed. Tomorrow is 162kms, hopefully no rain.

Eastern Lodge Namibia to Rest stop. On the road to Windhoek. 162kms.
I had a good nights’ sleep thanks to sleeping in our little cubicle last night. Breakfast is now 5.15am because of the change in time zones. That means no matter how you look at it, I have to get my sorry ass out of bed by 4.30am, that’s madness.
So I woke up at 4.45am and was ready for breakfast when the cook called, ‘Breakfast ready’. I had the usual of porridge, sandwich and a cup of tea. I took 2 bananas to eat on the road. Luke was going for the win today, but with the horrendous head wind for the 70kms I did really well to stay within the bunch considering the work he did yesterday over the 207km ride. He actually congratulated me for doing turn for turn over the distance. We averaged 34.5kph for 207kms. Now who’s getting fit on the bike?

I headed with young Andrea and Patrick as I my legs were just too sore from the all the kms this section. Within 30mins we had a group of 10 riders and we were all pulling a 2km turn each at the front of the bunch. We couldn’t go much over 25kph because of the headwind.

We rolled into lunch at the 70km mark for a nice 30minute rest. I could see on the faces of all the riders that they were really tired today and not keen on busting their guts into the headwind. It was the first time that cyclists were not rushing to get back on their bikes after sitting down for 5 minutes.

After lunch it was a push to the town of Gobabis some 40kms away. We were told last night that at this town we would have access to ATMs and some great pastry shops. Well we weren’t disappointed. We rolled into town in a huge bunch and came across the bakehouse which already had about 20 riders inside. I went inside and ate 3 pastries and down 2 cans of coke. Now I know I shouldn’t be drinking so much rubbish but when you’re so tired you need the sugar to help you make it the final 50kms to camp.

I rode with Luke, Scott, Paul, and was shortly joined with Steven for the ride to the town of Witvlei. A very small town that doesn’t need any investigation. About 20kms outside of Gobabis the heavens opened up again. This time we were hit by a huge thunderstorm and fierce winds hitting up directly in the face. It was painful on the arms and especially on the lips. Once again this was so hard to ride through and I was amazed no one in the group requested to take a break and try and get out of the rain until it passed. No, these guys are pretty hard and I’m now a part of them.

We arrived in the rest camp around 2pm, set up Tent Hilton and did the usual stuff for the rest of the day. Soup, wash, dinner, update blog, send sms home to Graciella and Matt, and then go to bed aty 7am and ride another 160kms to Windhoek tomorrow.

I’ve ridden 4 long days which have been really hard at times, but tomorrow’s ride will give us 825kms of riding in 5 days. Now that’s one hell of week of work. So until tomorrow, I’ll see you all in Windhoek the capital of Namibia.

27th April 2011. Witvlei Windhoek the capital of Namibia. 160kms. The end of the Elephant Highway Section.



After going out for a pee at 3am, you wouldn’t believe it, I was awake for the rest of the morning. So I jump lay in Tent Hilton nice and warm on what was a very cold morning. I got on the bike at 6am with Luke and a couple of other guys and headed off into the wide blue yonder. Thank God the sky’s was beautiful and blue this morning and very little signs of thunderous storms.

Once again I was really tired but pushed on to do my turns all the way to the lunch stop at 80kms. We had a time of just over 3 hours for the morning but this was considering a slight headwind all morning and a constant rise in elevation.
With a nice lunch we were back on the bike with some of the racers, who had decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. We just rolled along up and down small rises enjoying an incredibly beautiful day. We did see some crazy baboons sitting on the fence about 20 metres away checking us out. They are one dangerous and ugly beast in this part of the world
When we reached the turn off to the Windhoek international airport a couple of cyclists pulled of to enjoy some nice coffee and cake in the restaurant, Luke, Jorge, Henry and myself decided to continue on for the final 50kms to complete the day.

From the turn off to the airport the rolling hills increased with intensity. I was seriously struggling on many of the climbs because of the pressure being applied at the front of the group by Jorge and Henry. I was dropped about 20kms from town, absolutely exhausted. This was the first time in many weeks where I had been dropped.

As I pushed on the boys had stopped at a coke stop about 5kms from where I had been dropped. I called in for a cold drink and a much needed rest. The countryside around the coke stop was scattered trees and a couple of nice homes.
We got back on the road and headed into town with more hills to climb. We stopped at the bike shop and checked out all the goodies. Just a pair of gloves cost $40 US and a pair of leg warmers cost $18 US.

We still had 10kms to go to end the day and also complete 825kms in 5days. The rest of the ride was more hills. It was on the last climb that I got dropped again. I probably could have buried myself to stay with Luke and Jorge but I have to remember my age and fatigue that I was suffering.

The rest stop is quite a flash establishment but about 5kms outside of the main city. Many of the cyclists are scattered around hotels in the city, some are staying in tents at the campsite of the rest stop, and others are in the chalets on the grounds. Luke, Rodney, Dr Gary, Andrea, Sam and myself are staying at the Proteas Hotel down town. The room is terrific and we just devoured a hamburger and chips thanks kindly to room service. When you do the work we have done this week I’m entitled to splash out and have a bit of luxury. We’re staying 2 nights which gives us a chance to recharge for the final leg to Cape town.

Tonight we’re just chilling out at the hotel, watching T.V. and then go to the restaurant for dinner. Hopefully watch a movie. I’ve been so tired the past 2 days, I don’t think I could have ridden another Km.

I need a restLast night we had to put up the tents because of the rest area we were camping. The place was pretty good, except for the snakes found in town and the fact that snakes were around the camp and we had to be told be careful. We basically camped so close to each other I could hear my neighbour breathing and farting.