The real reason to leave a bit earlier is because originally I planned to do my sightseeing in Cairo on the 15th and the 16th. The actual tour will start on the morning of January 17th. However it turned out that a first meet and greet is planned on the 14th (at a time at which I would still be in the air) and on the 15th and the 16th the organisation has scheduled mandatory rider meetings to get us up to speed on tour proceedings. After learning about this I felt my spare time in Cairo slipping through my fingers and therefore I decided to travel there a little earlier.
So thats one way of cheating. The other is by joining an organized tour to cycle through Africa. In my introduction to this blog I write something about “nothing to fall back on but my own resourcefullness” but of course that is not the case. The riders of the tour will be followed by a number of support vehicles that will cary the riders’s bags. The crew will provide lunch and diner for us. We will be accompanied by a medic. At times we will be accompanied by security personel. So its not going to be a self sufficient ride... Far from it. And that feels a bit like cheating...
Does this make me less terrified of the task ahead? Not really. Its still going to be an epic challenge. But the challenge could be even harder!
Ezel: fully packed in the Elzas, heading for Rome...
Smurf: fully packed at cabo Finisterre, most wester tip op Spain.
Posh: fully packed at Hoek van Holland. This one is not going to see much more load than shown on this pic. One small trunk bag at the rear rack. And for Africa we’re going to lose the fenders. Feels like cheating...
