Today things got weird. Rumours have been floating around for a while that some years ago one of the tour groups decided to strip down and ride their bikes naked for a mile. For any normal group of people this idea would seem to be ludicrous… but we are a band of individuals who have decided riding bikes from Cairo to Cape Town sounds like a grand vacation. Therefore, upon hearing that such an ad hoc celebration of the flesh had occurred on years prior an adventurous group of our cyclists  (myself included) decided to take it upon themselves to “gear down and go for it”.  

            After a grueling 90km uphill slog to lunch roughly 15 riders finished their lunch, did a quick gut-check and removed their shirts and shorts. 3 months and 3 weeks of living with one another has given our more adventurous riders the testicular (or ovular for that matter) wherewithal and fortitude to bare all in front of one another. It was a gritty, greasy mile of riding for those involved but having completed one of the ultimate challenges of the tour all involved are quite happy they decided to go for it.

Namibia presents the Td’A riders with a problem. After the long, flat, brush filled stretches of Botswana gave us time to contemplate going home, even look forward to it, Namibia’s ever changing landscape reminds us of how much there is of Africa that we haven’t seen, and how much remains to be explored.

 

We’re at the point where 110km in a day seems a short day- a day where we have more than enough energy & enthusiasm to go and check out the highlight of today’s campsite- The Fish River Canyon. It’s the second largest canyon in the world, and it is gorgeous.

 

Some riders have just returned from the coast, equally impressed with their vacation from a vacation.

 

That is also the beauty of the end. More people realize that this doesn’t have to be an adrenaline charged nightmare where we begin to resent our bikes (though riding through thick and thin is definitely a pleasure for some). Some are wandering off for little bits to enjoy the tranquility of Africa, or to have some crazy adventure that they can keep to themselves, without sixty eyes on them.

 

The best is that we have come into our own. Everyone’s personality is fully shining through for better or worse. Because we have spent so much time with the brutal honesty of each other, there is now a sort of liberation to make this trip what you want, with no concern for the judgment of others, if you ride slowly, alone, or even run away for a few days.

 

We’re near the end, we’re in possibly the most beautiful country we’ve seen so far, and with that comes a feeling of bliss and being in the moment. Hopefully those moments slow down a bit for the next and final week.

Today was tough. No two ways about it. The accumulated miles so far on the Namibian dirt roads have taken their toll on many of the riders – even some thought to be amongst the strongest.

 

Namibia has been in a word, beautiful. Red sand dunes, steep descents, wide open spaces, panoramic views, stunning skies at night, springbok, ostriches, oryx, and more.

 

Today, for some, the suffering and frustrations of the tough terrain outweighed the beauty that surrounded them. We have another very hard day tomorrow – 155 km all on gravel roads with patches of corrugation and soft sand. The winds today were generally cooperative, but they can also be fickle, so we will see how they blow tomorrow. Most of the roads we have been on have been pretty good gravel roads, but there have been some long stretches (like the first 70 km today) they were brutally tough. Tomorrow will also feature more climbing than we have seen in the last day and a half of riding also.

 

It will be tough, but my belief is that this is going to be a place and a time that they all look back on and remember more vividly than other stages where they arrived to camp early and had time to check their email – those luxuries are nice from time to time on this trip, but the riders will look back and remember the challenging days, the exotic days, the scenic days and the days like tomorrow. I think many will be proud to say that they helped pioneer a new and improved route for the Tour d’Afrique and the riders in 2010 will be given a refined version of the first year dirt route.

 

With tired bodies and morale a little low at camp tonight, there was only one obvious solution – Spaghetti Bolognese. One of the simpler dishes for James to prepare (and most certainly not his favourite to prepare), it is always a favourite with many riders - one that gets finished off entirely by the group. Some riders coming back for third and fourth helpings.

 

On a full stomach, at 7:30pm, most are already sound asleep, dreaming about the challenges and future memories ahead.

After a tiring long week in Botswana, we have crossed into Namibia. We were told we had 2 days of dirt from Windhoek to Sesriem; one being 147 km, and the other 155 km. Long, hot, hills, and dirt. I have to say initially many of the riders, including myself, were not looking forward to it, after a tiring week, however, yesterday has proven to be one of the best days of the tour.

 

Yesterday morning we woke up all very cold and tired after a chilly night of frost on the ground. It was our last bush camp on the tour which is actually sad; it was a great bush camp with a big bonfire to warm us up.

We all rigged up, and hit the road and it was a sensational day. The scenery was beautiful; desert-like plains with mountains jutting up all around us. The ride started with a slight climb over Spreetsghoote Pass. As you come over the pass you were struck by a beautiful view across a huge valley. This was followed by a fantastic and fast and challenging descent. We dropped 500m in a mere 4 km.

 

At about 45 km we came across Gecko Camp where we hiked up a little hill to a restaurant with any cold drinks you could imagine and a sensational view. Eventually we tore ourselves away and rode another 30 km to Solitaire where there was another restaurant famous for their apple crumble - which happens to be my favourite desert. So I stuffed myself with a game burger and apple crumble and a magnum ice cream bar on top. This time I had to be rolled out of there onto my bike and I spent the next 40 km fighting not to be sick from over-eating.

 

The riding was tough, being a mix of sand, loose rock, and it was a long day with some riders getting into camp as the sun disappeared behind the dunes. But every single kilometer was worth it; being so beautiful and such a welcome change from the riding in Botswana. Iit has definitely been voted as one of the top 5 days on the tour.

 

Today we have a rest day in Sesriem which is a small little resort/camp at the gate to the sand dunes. Most riders and staff were up at 4:30am to head to see the sunrise over the dunes. It was hard but I dragged myself out of bed. Again it was well worth it as the dunes were very, very impressive.

 

Ahead is another 5 days of long days in the dirt before our next rest day at Felix Unite Camp on the border with South Africa….

I have been remiss; yesterday (the longest day of the tour) a great thing happened at lunch and the rider who accomplished it was so proud of herself (rightly so) that she commissioned me to write a fitting commemoration of the event… I forgot to include it in yesterdays update. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. So here it is:

 

“Let it be known, heralded and sung into the ages that on this, the 21^st day of April in the year of Our Lord 2009 Lady Anne Price led the fastest peloton into the lunch break on the longest day of the tour.”  

As for today, we are camped in a dusty, Namibian cowboy town in the heart of African “Cattle Country”. It is literally like those towns you hear country music singers bragging about when they talk about where they come from. No traffic lights, no traffic save the large pickup trucks fitted out with special cages in the flatbed for individual cattle transport. The ride was much like yesterday’s albeit a shorter distance coupled with tons of crosswinds. It wasn’t easy but c’est la vie. Tomorrow we enter our last national capital, Windhoek. It promises to be a vibrant city with a bustling nightlife, given our history I think the city better look out… and put some extra beers in the fridge.

We have just completed the longest day on the Tour d’Afrique. A gruelling 207km slog through the last bit of Botswana, into Namibia. Given our previous stories about the intricacies of African border crossings it may seem strange to have the longest day coincide with a border crossing but fear not, dear reader. The Botswana-Namibia crossing was a piece of cake. The day began at our beautiful campsite Ghanzi, Botswana with a pre-pre-dawn wakeup call. Riders gorged themselves on Muesli, PBnJ sandwiches and fresh fruit before hitting the tarmac at first light.   Lunch was held at over 80km, a ridiculous distance by Td’A standards, but riders were treated to extra cheese sandwiches and rice krispee squares prepared the night before by a cadre of volunteer chefs. All were in good spirits and the majority elected to continue on with the ridiculous distance. For those that didn’t, I have nothing but respect & admiration for the hard work and mental toughness they had exhibited to even get to that point.                 I began my afternoon sweep at that point. Today was a tough, tough day even when only riding half of it. The Heaven-sent tailwinds that we had enjoyed on the past few rides disappeared and were replaced by relatively strong cross and head winds. Something you definitely don’t want when faced by a 60km slog before your next chance to even get off your bike for a cool drink at a gas station. Still, the riders persevered. I arrived in camp long after the sun had disappeared over the horizon, exhausted, sweaty and happy. I had spent most of my sweep behind John Davis, our sole septuagenarian rider who had battled the day until dusk to ride triumphantly into camp, an event that was met by the tumultuous applause of all the riders who had come before him. I would like also to give special mention to Ernest Enns who also managed to conquer the entire distance. I sincerely hope to have the fitness and mental fortitude of these men when I reach their age.

It’s a little hard to describe how beautiful the last three days have been. They have probably been the most scenic consecutive days of the tour. From Keetmanshoop we cycled to the Fish River Canon and another 178km to the Orange River— the Namibian and South African border. I traveled these roads by car five years ago. I remember the beauty of the surrounding landscape, but the last three days of cycling imprints a new beauty in my mind. At one point I overheard Clive saying, “I have just died and gone to cycling heaven.” This was at 10am. After lunch, in true TDA style, the dirt turned soft, sapping legs of energy, and then 60km of strong head wind. The wind was having the last say and reminding us what cycling in Africa is really like. During the afternoon ride, my thoughts were, “I have died and gone to cycling hell!” Today’s rest day was well earned. In one week, we will roll into Cape Town and the tour will all be over. When I think back it will be days like the last three that I will hold onto.

We are enjoying yet another most excellent Coke stop…this one complete with apple strudel, cheesecake, coffee, sunshine stunning scenery. These landscapes you wouldn’t believe at all. If this Coke stop combined with hilly dirt road and occasional sand pits to swerve through are not enough to keep you entertained—there’s always the corn crickets. Attack of the corn critters! Visualize one of the nastiest insects you can. Now make it crunchy and double its size. Now conjure them in swarming the road and occasionally on your Camelbak. Seriously, these creatures of the dark resemble something from a sci-fi horror movie. If they were enlarged to human size you could see in detail their horrendous appearance—segmented armored bodies, hairy legs, too-long antenna, yellow guts. Simply put, they are creepy. I personally had three on my tent (not the fly, but on the netting, so I could see the undersides of their bodies) and had to quickly remove one from inside my tent last night. We’ve had games with these armored crickets since Botswana The games consist of either attempting to avoid them or purposely hit them, the latter spraying yellow guts all over tires and frames, legs and shoes. Rod and Dave Pennington had personal bests of squashing over a hundred each, arriving into camp scraping sticky corn critter pieces off their legs. The camp is firmly divided into two groups: one on a save the corn cricket campaign. They use guilt trips and are morally opposed to the vicious attacks on such helpless creatures. The other faction sees corn cricket’s inherent entertainment value. Daily contests consist of hitting just one leg of one or using the shovel to practice baseball or cricket skills (depending on nationality) is remarkably good fun.

I awake from a bad dream…one of a road that never ends: no turns, no visible landmarks and little elevation. After talking to others about my dream they confessed of one very similar... Today we get our first taste of true Namibian desert, a stark change from the last month of tarmac. The smell of fresh dust and twin tire trails are reminders of roads past. The hills, ah the hills…we pedaled hard for every crest—each vista worthy of a postcard—and then coasted to our next climb. Duncan is the most popular person in camp tonight, due to his decision to deviate from the traditional route and take us into the desert. His promise of more desertscape during tomorrow’s ride is turning a smile from everyone…even the roadies. You wouldn’t believe what a dirt road can do to a person’s spirits when there are only ten days to the finish line. A spectacular sunset, boasting the first clouds we’ve seen in weeks, was a fitting end to a scenic day of riding. Tomorrow we dine upon the edge of a canyon

Notre long periple touche a sa fin, une nouvelle dynamique prend place… En effet, après une petite phase de lassitude pendant laquelle la plupart des cyclistes comptaient les jours qui nous separaient du Cap, l`atmosphere se detend a nouveau et chacun profite du moment present ! Apres un super repas mexicain prepare par le chef hier soir et une belle journee de velo, nous voici dans un camp un peu amenage (deux douches et trois toilettes), au milieu de nul-part, tapisse de gramines au reflets argentes, parfume de quelques pousses de thym, parseme de tumultes de roches et de “quiver trees”: c`est un arbre un peu biscurnu, ou les branches nues portent des aloes, surprenant ! Sans oublie les statues eparpillees partout dans le camp, fabriquees de materiaux de recuperation (tissus, aspirateur, bois, feraille en tout genre…), de quoi egailler cette belle après-midi ensoleillee ! De plus, demain, nous quittons a nouveau les routes pavees pour une derriere portion de piste, le long du canyon de la riviere Poison (“river fish canyon”) pour le plus grand plaisir de tous !