When I got up and around I noticed that my throat was actually pretty soar and swollen. It has been soar for a few days, probably due to the dry air and dust in the air. But the swelling in my throat was new and it made me gag everytime I swallowed, which was a new experience and a bit scary. I had Jen the medic take a look at it and she let me gorgel with saline a bit, which provided relief instantaneously! Otherwise I felt fine, no fever or anything, so I was ready to ride!
Due to my get together with Jen I was one of the last out of camp. I decided to take it slow. The first 60k of today’s ride was a gradual climb to 750 meter elevation. After that followed a 80k descend, but wind was predicted to be against us on this section. During the first 30k I overtook many of the riders at the back of the pack and had a short chat with each of them. Highlights were cycling with Jonas and Fritz. Jonas cited a poem he wrote to Veronica and me about the meaning of smell. I was quite impressed that he wrote it himself and that he memorized it! Fritz lives in China and is now sixty something years old and used to do self supported bike trips all over the world. His stories were quite impressive as well!
After two hours on the road and 30k of climbing I got hungry and decided to put some power to the pedals. I was very happy to reach lunch at 70k. After lunch followed another 75k with a gradual descend, but like predicted we had a fierce headwind, which meant I had to put a lot of energy in to reach a respectable speed. This last section made today’s ride quite hard. I was very happy with a coke shop at the side of the road at 105k. After that I was counting down kilometers. The last 10k were actually flat and the last 1k went actually up again! I was very glad to make it to camp...
I actually felt quite worn down after today’s ride, but after having some salty soup, putting up my tent, diner and having a nice evening together with some fellow riders I feel a bit more refreshed. Tomorrow is 107k to Luxor. After that we are gonna have our first rest day in Luxor! Looking forward to that!
Entering the Red Sea Mountains...
Just feeling gratefull to be here. Although Vikas should learn to carry “les shit” on his climbs :-)
Bike enjoying lunch...
Camels in de desert! Real highlight!
Making new friends at the coke shop... not sure what is in the guy’s head. When I hit capetown with such a lump it was probably contageous...
Trees in the desert. Bit strange...
People go to bed really early! Luckily some drink Vodka (i skipped, i don’t do well on Vodka...)
