This is the first in a series of reports from our bike in Africa -
Cinelli. More to follow. We hope you enjoy them...
I had always dreamed of visiting the pyramids. Growing up in Italy I found myself yearning for distant lands, when the opportunity came to join the Tourd’Afrique I rolled right into it.
Flying to Cairo in the cargo bay was a bit scary, and cold, but when we touched down it was warm and hectic. My first stop was the customs office where I was held up for days and interrogated for long hours. Finally Mr. Brian, my savior, bailed me out, not only did he do this for me but he would also be the one pedaling me through Egypt!
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves; the picture above is me at the Pyramids in Giza. It was a crisp morning and I’m very photogenic as you can tell.
The roads in Egypt are similar to home, Mr. Brian steered me everywhere I needed to go and made sure I arrived in camp each night safe and sound. The other bikes aren’t as pretty as me but they have their merits, I usually got locked up for the night with a few of them and we’d chat about what adventures the next day might hold in store for us. At this point, the adventure continues and we have entered Sudan!
My next report will hopefully come from the Dongola Zoo…
When in Egypt the experience of being haggled by taxi drivers, shop owners and many others on street can become a lot to handle at times. However, sometimes, when you’re lucky you get to experience real Egyptian hospitality and all the bad experiences start to disappear for a while. One of the full tour riders, Michael Paull from Canada
, was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one such experience and shared his story with us.
Hello, my friend By Michael Paull This saying is very common in Egypt, perhaps too common. Wherever you go, the people greet you this way. Sometimes it comes of nicely, other times it sounds aggressive. In Luxor
- where we had our first day off - that saying was everywhere and aggressive. At night, one of the other riders, Herman and I wanted to go for dinner, so Mohammed, our horse-drawn carriage-taxi driver, said he would take us to a very nice place. We also used him so we wouldn’t be bothered by everyone else on the streets while getting to the restaurant.
We had a great dinner and when we came out, Mohammed was there to take us back home. The next morning when I left the campsite Mohammed was there so we could walk together. We went to the local market, and after, to his house for a cup of tea and so I could meet his two daughters (age three and five), his wife, his mother and his brother. After, we went to the tourist market. From there he took us to the Luxor temple, then lunch (sugar cane) and then back to the campsite. When I told my story to other TDA riders they all asked how much this had cost me. It didn’t cost anything because Mohammed was my friend.
With the campfire crackling in the background, this year’s TDA riders are enjoying the end of what was their first rest day in Luxor. They now have only two riding days left in Egypt before they board the ferry to cross Lake Nasser and enter the Sudan. In a few days they will be able to tick off their first of ten countries and their first 1000km will be done and dusted.
It has been smooth riding on the Egyptian tarmac and with roads mostly flat and wide there was ample opportunity for racing. As always, not all riders see themselves as racers and most just want to experience the African continent from their bike but a select few are there to vie for the title of TDA champion. After six days of racing the leader board is dominated by European riders with Germans Raffael Schrof and Rudiger Muller in first and second place, followed Bryce Walsh from the USA. The women’s field is considerably friendlier but the strongest women have already stepped up and showed their mettle. Femke Nelissen from Holland is in the lead at the moment, with Jennifer Davenport from the UK and Esther Borg from Australia in second and third places.
Riders and staff are settling into the daily camping routine of setting up camp every night and attempting to fit their luggage into their bags again, come sunrise. Evenings and mornings have been anything between crisp and freezing and everyone is looking forward to warmer temperatures in the Sudan as well as the official TDA trucks that are designed specifically for riders’ needs.
Even though the daily routine is beginning to feel familiar everyone knows that this is only the beginning of a very long journey. Thousands of kilometers still have to be covered and more than a hundred days of their TDA adventure still lie before them. The show is on the road and everyone is hanging on to stay a part of it.
- Catharina Robbertze
Idfu is a town of 150,000 where the tour camps between Luxor and Aswan. It offers a fascinating glimpse into everyday Egyptian life, from its colorful souk to its busy streets and happy people. Horse drawn taxis whisk the tourists from their Nile river cruises into the hustle and bustle of downtown.
For our riders it was a fascinating afternoon of haggling and baksheesh after a 116 km ride paralleling the Nile.
Idfu is also home to what is considered to be the best preserved of ancient Egypt’s temples. The Temple of Horus pays homage to this falcon headed god and was completed during the 1
st century BC and the reign of the Ptolemaic Pharoahs.
The hieroglyphics are particularly stunning as witnessed in this photographic essay of Idfu town and the Temple.
When faced with the choice of a steep hill and a headwind most cyclists will probably choose the hill.
After four days of flat riding and excellent weather conditions the TDA riders received a timeous reminder that this is a hard tour and there is still a lot of riding to come. A steady incline over 57km took everything out of their legs and tonight everyone knows they’ve been on a bicycle for the past four days. To make the ride even harder a swirling headwind also accompanied riders as they edged closer to their first rest day.
There is now only one day left before we arrive in Luxor and all the weary legs receive a welcome break. The rest day is also the approximate halfway marker for Egypt and the promise of being able to tick off one of ten countries is helping everyone along when the going gets tough.
