Tour d'Afrique - Cairo to Cape Town by Bike

I feel like this will be a recurring statement but with the huge pile of things that have happened since my last update, I am at a loss of where to begin. I will start with some facts which will bring on some stories and thoughts and then this post will likely rage on far too long. Well, you can read it in stages I guess!

I had a great day doing some washing, then wandering around Dongola. I enjoyed some freshly pressed mango juice, then some flame broiled chicken and wandered around the dusty streets, waving to the locals looking curiously at what was walking down the street before them. I enjoy the challenge of trying to convey what I am trying to say to very confused locals. I really do feel bad for not knowing more of the local language, but locals seem to get entertainment from the interpretive dance I end up doing to try to supplement the few words I do know in Arabic.

We left Dongola in a convoy and off into the desert we rode. Now on the west side of the Nile, we are in the eastern extents of the famous Sahara desert. I was expecting another five days of some rough roads, but it turned out to be two days of riding on roads in various states of construction and three days of riding chiefly on paved roads with some sections still under construction. I found this a little unfortunate since I was looking forward to the challenge of the tough roads and heat that the Sudan has offered previous Tour d'Afrique riders, but accepted it and rode with my slicks on for the the last three days.

Most days, I have started with the pack just to get warmed up and let some kilometres pass with the fast-moving group, then happily dropped off when the pace surged with attacking racers. From there, I enjoyed a combination of riding easily on my own, riding easily with others, watching the scenery pass by continually repeating "wow, I really am riding in the Sahara", stopping and quietly taking pictures while enjoying the sounds of the desert communities, stopping with some groups of locals and doing my best to have a "conversation", riding peacefully with one other rider enjoying the scenery and pointing out interesting observations to each other, enjoying good conversation between riders, and of course there are the more off the wall stories!

Riding along one day along a sandy road, we went to go up and over an irrigation canal stemming from the life-blood Nile out to the depths of the desert and noticed a bike helmet on the other side. We wondered why Tom V. (Canadian) had stopped until we rose slightly more to be greeted with about 50 camel heads! We quickly stepped aside since we had already spooked the heard and gave them right of way over the narrow bridge.

Another day we were riding along in a larger group (about ten of us) and noticed a great deal of action happening about 50m off the road. We decided to go and check it out and came across two families concurrently getting water from a large communal well. They would drop the bucket down the well and fill it, then attach the rope to a donkey with a small child on top, then the donkey would tow the water up from the depths. Repeat process...until we showed up. Before we knew it, we were hauling up the water whilst the donkeys had a well deserved rest and drink from their share of the water. We let them ride our bikes, they put a rider up on a camel and took her for a ride, we helped them hitch their water tank cart to their donkey, we played the "take your picture and show it to them on the back of the camera" game, all the mean while they were laughing their heads off and having a great time! We can only wonder what they were thinking when a gang of spandex-clad foreigners came over and started hauling their water up, but we hope that this particular day will be a water-fetching experience to remember!

One evening there was a particularly large hill behind our site, so a couple of us trudged up to the top of the ~30 vertical metre rise. The vastness of the desert was that much more apparent from atop the hill. Aside from the similar hilly features that dotted one side of the landscape, the horizon was the only limit to the vast dry landscape that was before us. Small bushes here in there somehow managed to draw whatever small quantity of water the surrounding sand would present to keep a light green tinge upon its thorny branches. The wind scoured and packed most patches of the landscape and deposited its dust on the leeward sides of any features (including all of our gear of course) in delicately carved smooth and wavy lines. The desert is a beautiful place!

The people we have come across have been great! Everyone has been very courteous, kind and very friendly! Unlike in Egypt where every time you answer the "where are you from?" question with Canada you got a response of "Canada Dry" and requests for tips for their witty lines, you are greeted with more curiosity, more questions, more smiles, more and more handshakes requests to have you take pictures of them, offers of tea and/or food and general good spirit.

The other night we were treated to a few speeches from some fellow riders about the fund-raising initiatives they have created by pedalling along with us. The stories of time, effort, energy and resources backed by their commitment of pedalling across this continent were going to causes that put back into the countries here that would like help, however too-large organizations are not efficient enough with their funds to reach the more needing cases, a rider dissatisfied by a career of selling high-tech equipment to people that have now using his marketing talents to get a list of corporations to help him build a school, medical facilities and other growing initiatives in a community that we will pass through in Zambia, a rider who lost a friend to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) a number of years ago pledged that he would ride this tour to raise funds and awareness for this fatal and cureless disease were some of the presentations we were given. Many others have their own initiatives including the one off of this website doing our best to help this land that we are quietly rolling over with our 2-cylinder glycogen-powered vehicles.

Today, we had a short time trial of 18km followed by an escorted entry into Khartoum. What was really neat about it was that the Sudanese Cycling Team assisted in blocking traffic for us as we wound through the busy streets of the sprawling city. Talking with them, they were very enthusiastic to help us out. When we arrived at our camp, the President of the Sudanese Cycling federation and the General Secretary of Sport in the Sudanese government both offered speeches welcoming us to their country and to their capital city. I was very taken aback by their deep appreciation for our presence in their country. They both repeatedly mentioned that we should bring back exactly what we have seen in their country to the media of our home countries. They wanted the message to be spread around the world's media that Sudan is not a country of terrorists, but rather a country of peaceful, friendly people as we have witnessed.

My original goals of accomplishing the athletic challenge whilst enjoying the local cultures, helping improve local lives through Tour d'Afrique Foundation fundraising initiatives and hopefully proliferating the bicycle as an alternative to combustion-powered transportation are in the works. I am now realizing that simply our presence here and our group's collective willingness to press down on a pair of bike pedals across the continent is potentially opening up an entirely new set of doors.

From here, I get to wake up tomorrow morning to my tent's view of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile (as shown by a solid line of white sediment entering the Blue Nile's stream; quite stunning!) and then get to saunter around the city for the day taking in its unique sights and sounds, then back on the bikes en route to Ethiopia. Only five riding days left in Sudan. Too bad!

...oh yeah, to close this raging report off, yes the rumour is true, I did crack my bike frame. Uh-oh. It is okay, potential solutions are at hand!