Namib Desert

As we can see from Paul's tracker the tour has reached the edge of the Namib desert. Apparently tomorrow they head towards Sesreim where the highlight of this section is the dawn visit to the world’s highest sand dunes at Sossusvlei. Apparently the scenery through Namibia so far has been quite spectacular!

Other blogs

Check out some other blogs for updates:

Late start, slow day with the elephants

Paul Wolfe : "Paul Spencer is back and riding hard ..."

Rest Day in Windhoek, Namibia

Well - not much communication from the riders today - although a few of the girls managed to get some photos up. I know today the weather has not been so great - enormous hail stones and storms and I know they enjoyed a very nice meal with lots of MEAT last night. Apparently ostrich, crocodile, zebra, kudu, oryx and springbok were all on offer!!! I am sure they are all very aware that tomorrow starts the final section of the tour - The Diamond Coast - which will take them 1726 km and 14 riding days to their arrival in Cape Town!! There are a few dirt days coming up I believe so that should make Paul happy as well!!

Windhoek, Namibia

Stage 80 today - Day 103 - but disappointed again that the tracker is not showing despite yesterday's test! TdA has now arrived in Windhoek for tomorrow's rest day!

Tracker is working again!

Paul was able to get some new batteries for the tracker today and it is now showing his current location in Namibia and hopefully should track his route again tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of this section - the Elephant Highway - and they then have a rest day in Windhoek before starting the final section of the tour!

Congratulations Paul

Just had a message from Paul confirming he did indeed win yesterday's 207 km Mando Day, not only beating the rest of the field but also the weather - three storms that they had to ride through! As one rider said the distance and elements conspired to make it the toughest day on tour!! He wants us to know not to worry about him as he is taking it easy again today! Apparently he rode with Bastiaan after a leisurely breakfast to lunch in an internet cafe at 110 km - then did some shopping (needed batteries for the SPOT tracker - so should be working again for tomorrow) before riding the final 50 km to today's desert camp!! A great birthday present for me - thanks Paul xx

Maun, Botswana to Windhoek - 825 km

Sat Apr 23 Stage 76 Maun to Bush Camp -157 Km
Sun Apr 24 Stage 77 Bush Camp to Ghanki -140 Km
Mon Apr 25 Stage 78 Ghanki to Buitenpos -Border crossing -207 Km MANDO RACE DAY
Tue Apr 26 Stage 79 Buitenpos to Witulei -162 Km
Wed Apr 27 Stage 80 Witulei to Windhoek -159 Km
Thu Apr 28 Rest Day !

100th Day

Today is the 100th day of the TdA! Stage #77 is an 88 mile ride from 'bush camp' to Ghanki, Botswana. Tomorrow is quite a milestone day for the TdA. They will pass 6,000 miles ridden and enter their 8th country...Namibia. Thanks for the extra info from Scott's Page!!

Happy Easter

The tracker is not working and Paul's laptop is broken so news may be sketchy this week. They cycled 140 km today and have the longest ride of the tour ahead of them tomorrow - 207 km. Thinking of you this Easter day, Paul - all our love!! Stay well!

Golf and Helicopter Rides - April 16

Today I had arranged to play 9 holes of golf with Bastiaan and Liam. Got up a bit late and found myself rushing around trying to catch up. I had to also move out of the hostel and back to camp. After dropping off my bags I got a taxi to the golf course – though there was no need to rush in the end as I had to wait for those two! Anyway we played golf and I was terrible!! I think I topped the first 5 shots! Liam had never played before and Bastiaan only about three times – but you wouldn’t have thought I was any better! We all had caddies as they were only $3 each – it was really good as they carried our bags in the heat – but they also tried to “teach “ us which was not necessarily good! I was playing so bad they thought I was a beginner. They were also automatically handing us a driver each time so finally I asked for the 4 iron instead. And I finally began to play a little better! But it was very hot and we didn’t have any drinks – it took us about 3 hours to play 6 holes. Walking to the 7th hole we decided to skip to the 9th and only play 7 holes in total. The 9th was a par 5 – I hit the driver about 300 yards and then pulled out a 5 wood and hit it right next to the green - - but into some bushes – and it was gone!! It really was quite a difficult course – with narrow fair ways and not that short – and the rough was full length grass! We spent a lot of time looking for golf balls as we had only bought 3 each – luckily our caddies were good at finding them! So we just about made it with our three balls each! At the end we tipped the caddies with the tees and balls as well as cash!

Earlier back at camp I was told that I had won a raffle last night. It had been drawn for anyone who had been raising money for the TDA Foundation and they had drawn it while we were bungee jumping so I hadn’t known anything about it. Anyway Adele told me I had won a 2 hour horse ride in the safari park – not really my thing – but still I was up for it – it should be fun! They were still trying to find out the details when I left for golf so promised to get a message to me. Sure enough the message arrived - the horse ride had been cancelled and replaced by a helicopter ride instead at 3pm. So after golf another rush back to camp to pick up my voucher and get to the helicopter port! Again the rush was needless as I then had to sit around waiting for the trip! However I finally get to do my 15 minute flight – it was awesome!! No pictures unfortunately (I might be able to “borrow” some) But the experience was amazing! The Falls are incredible seen from above – you can see the bungee bridge and then the canyon zig zagging off into the distance. It was unbelievable. I liked that a lot!

After that I met up with the guys that make the bamboo bikes back in Lusaka. When I was ill I missed out on the visit to their factory which was a real shame – another time maybe? They had then joined the ride for a couple of days so at least I got to meet them now. Anyway they are giving us a great deal on these bikes - $350 instead of the $900 you would pay in America. What better souvenir of my African trip? They are talking about adding special TDA 2011 graphics and logos for us as there are about 25 people interested in buying a bike! I am quite excited about that!

I am back at camp now checked in to a room here – I need to get some decent sleep tonight as I am back on the bike tomorrow. It is only a short ride tomorrow and a non race day which will allow me to get back in the swing of things again and see how strong I feel! As it is so nice here we have already decided to take our time in the morning and have a proper breakfast before we set off – no point in rushing to get to camp!

So now I need to go eat and get to bed!

Bungee Jumping - Victoria Falls - April 15

Had to rush over to the restaurant first thing this morning to meet everyone at about 6.15 am – just had time to grab a coffee. Trouble is I had also just grabbed a T-shirt and without thinking had worn a sleeveless one – at 6.30 am in the back of a 4 wheeled drive flying through a Game park and I was regretting that – it was freezing until the sun came out properly!! In the park we quickly began to see some animals – it was really cool – I had been hoping to see at least giraffes and zebra today ( no lions or leopards in this park) – and very soon we saw impala, waterhogs (really cool), wildebeest, buffalo and zebra – and then not long after we saw giraffes – and loads of birds! Our guide was really good – lots of information and explanations – he did like to ask us questions but we weren’t very forthcoming with our answers so early in the morning. That was a bit tough!! But it was all really good fun.

We headed back to the hotel next to our camp for all you can eat buffet breakfast. Then I finished putting my bike together and then got a taxi back to the hostel to collect my stuff – especially needed my Go Pro chest camera as we were going BUNGEE jumping next!! This is what I had been waiting for! I was exhausted by the time I got there to meet the others – rushing from place to place all day! The jump takes place from the bridge which goes between Zambia and Zimbabwe – so you do actually have to cross into Zimbabwe to jump – you get a special pass to allow you to enter. . we arrived at the bridge – WOW – the waterfall is just amazing as is the bridge – and so high! We have to go and sign in and are getting really excited now! We have signed up for the triple experience as it was only $20 more than for the single – so – bungee, swing and zip wire!. After signing all the paperwork I put my chest camera on (it was allowed!) and we went off to do the zip wire first! It goes from one side of the canyon to the other – a good starter activity – not too scary. It was an amazing scene with the waterfall behind – incredible views! Then we went back up to the bridge. I had been hoping to swing first - but no I was in the bungee group along with Megan and Tori – Kim and Steve were swinging first – then we would swap! Kim and Tori went first – then it was my turn. I am getting really, really nervous – though surprisingly a lot calmer then last time I think. I am strapped in ready to go ( a different harness for each activity) and feeling nervous but nowhere near as scared as I thought I would be. I felt better than I did in the plane for my sky dive anyway! I was just trying not to think about it. Finally I moved to the edge and dived. Wow – it was fun! Its been a long time but it s still fun. This one was a lot different from previous jumps – it seemed to me that the elastic “snapped” a lot more – and different in that they let you continue to bounce up and down a lot more before pulling you in. After a while I could feel all the blood rushing to my head and had had enough of bouncing up and down. Finally the line comes down and they clip you in and pull you up. In New Zealand you only bounced a couple of times before they pulled you in. It is probably good to bounce about 5 or 6 times if I had the choice! It was just so cool with the waterfall right behind you and the water rushing through beneath you. On the video later it looked like the ocean below not a river!

They haul you back – and the scariest part I think is when they unclip you at the top and pull you back over on to the bridge. Then you have to walk back along under the bridge and climb a ladder and then all the way back along the top – weird but good. Then I got to watch Megan bungee and Steve then Tori swing before it was my turn again! We swapped cameras – I used Steve’s helmet cam and Kim borrowed my chest camera for his bungee jump. The swing is a completely different experience. As I am strapping in I can hear people say” the swing is worse…” but I am trying to ignore them and say to myself “the bungee is worse!” So – for a bungee jump you dive off head first – for some strange reason I had been waving my arms all over the place earlier – not too sure why! But for the swing you jump off feet first – as I was getting ready and being strapped in I felt as if the ropes were really pulling on me. They are attached about 100 m in front on a point – so you jump and fall until the swing part catches you and you then swing out! There are three different ropes attached and standing there at the edge you really feel them pulling on you. I was waiting, waiting and then as soon as he let go I just had to hop off the edge, holding the rope around by my waist. And then you just start falling. It is the weirdest feeling ever to be falling feet first – my feet started waving all over the place and then I started pulling in the rope with my hands before realizing not to and so let go! It was really scary – a completely different feeling!. Then you get to the point where you stop falling and start swinging – so there you are swinging out over the river – amazing! Back and forth across the canyon with the spray from the Falls soaking you and the water rushing below. Incredible! They were really slow to pull you back up again and once again the scariest part is back at the bridge being pulled back over the rail!! I really didn’t like that bit which scared the hell out of me! It was awesome fun – really, really scary but a lot of fun!!

Back up on the bridge I was able to watch the other guys go – its crazy but you still feel nervous then and just cant keep still! The one disappointing thing about the whole experience was having to contend with all the sellers as you walked back and forth along the bridge. They were trying to sell jewelry and all sorts – it does get kind of annoying. They are explaining that “times are hard – just trying to look after my family” and so you cant help but feel sorry for them at the same time. To be fair this guy only wanted $5 so I bought his trinket – not too sure what I am going to do with it though – I was just trying to be nice to at least one person!

Then we watched the videos of our jumps – which were hilarious – just too expensive to buy though!! I’d rather spend the money to do the activity again!! Then we went back to the restaurant for a nice meal and then off to bed as we were exhausted – it had been a busy day after about 4 hours sleep ( and I had been getting used to about 10 hours sleep each night the past week!!). I have had a great day – and healthwise still feel as if I am recovering a little more each day!

Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi - April 14

At breakfast in the hostel I met up with a whole load of guys who had travelled ahead of the tour to spend some extra time in Livingstone - it was good to hang out with them for a while. We decided to head on over to camp to be there when the riders returned - as it happened by the time we got our taxi we actually passed Tori as she rode in and quite a few of the other riders were already in camp. It was good to catch up with them - I wanted to work on my bike - to clean it and put it back to working order again - I had neglected it totally since I had been sick so I hoped it was all OK. It was fine - I cleaned it thoroughly and startred replacing the cables. It seemed that everyone had signed up for a sunset cruise that evening - sounded like a booze cruise to me - but it seemed like everyone was going so I signed up as well. There was food and drink and we would sail out and watch the sun set - sounded like a good idea! There was a discount if you signed up for a second activity so I decided on the morning safari at 6.30 am. I ended up working on my bike for so long I suddenly realised it was time for the cruise - fortunately I had my smart clothes in my locker so could grab a quick shower and be ready! Yes - it was definitely a booze cruise!! We did see a huge crocodile which kept us company for a while and then we stopped to watch the sun set. Just then we heard a loud splash. A couple of people had jumped in would you believe? We had just seen a crocodile!!? Anyway they were pulled back on board but the captain was understandably angry and so immediately started the return!! But we had seen the sun set and everyone was having fun - it was so good that all the group was joining in! We chugged back down the river enjoying ourselves and actually didn't return any earlier than the other boats in the end - so it was a really good, fun evening. Although we had eaten on the boat it wasn't very much so we went straight to the restaurant bar and the party continued to the early hours. It was a lot of fun and I was fortunate in that I had plenty of energy, not having ridden like the rest of them. Just as well as it must have been about 2 am when I got to bed and I had to be up again in a few hours for my morning Game drive!!

Bless this Bus - April 13

Today I am ready to leave Lusaka for Livingstone.. At dinner with Jessica last night we talked about the possibility of a stand by flight to Livingstone. She and her friend seemed to think that it should be quite easy to get one as they are not usually full on a week day. So I hopped in to a taxi for the airport – I was kind of shocked at the cost - $30 and tried to bargain! Made me wonder how far away was the airport – but I didn’t do too well! When I arrived I tried to book in only to find the flight was full after all – my fault, I should have thought to phone ahead! Would have saved me some money. So now I had to get another taxi back to Lusaka – this time I managed to get the price down to $20 – but $50 later and I am still in Lusaka!! Now I have to get a taxi to the bus station – a nightmare journey that took an hour because of road closures which meant we had to sit in traffic jams!! So – it was about 11.30 am by the time I was at the station. The next buses were either 2.30 or 4pm. Although I was told the later one was ‘nicer’ I really didn’t want to hang around any longer than I had to. For some strange and very annoying reason the terminal was full of ticket touts who insisted on hanging around even if you had a ticket already! So as it was I sat on the bus about 2 hours before it was due to leave! Unfortunately they also let various sellers on as well – so there was a continuous flow of people up and down the aisle – just like Ryan Air!! And just as Ryan Air has an annoying jingle – so our bus had a preacher to come and shout at us! He was preaching and reading from the bible – it was like being at a very enthusiastic church service – he would say something and expect you to repeat the message after him – well I looked around the bus and sure enough everyone was joining in enthusiastically – it made me think – I might think it all very strange but there was definitely another viewpoint as everyone else on the bus seemed to appreciate his efforts – I have never seen anything like it before!! As well as his 20 minute sermon hopefully he also blessed the bus and our journey for us at least!! Then he got off and at last we headed on our way!!

The windows had been open on the bus but as soon as we set off they were closed – it was so hot!! After about 2 ½ hours we had a flat tyre – so had to wait at the side of the road for it to be repaired. This gave me a chance to buy some snacks and water from a shop close by. Of course as soon as we set off again I decided I needed the bathroom. Help – was I going to have to stop the bus? Luckily we stopped again at a rest stop only about an hour later – there was also a fish and chip shop – in fact I actually stocked up with sausage and chips, kit kats and drinks! It was dark now and although my ipod had died I was able to watch “Bones” on my computer! We finally arrived in Livingstone at 10 pm – the 4-6 hour drive actually had taken 7 ½ hours!! Never mind – I was there! I then headed off to the Jolly Boys Backpackers Hostel – where I grabbed the remaining two muffins and some water before heading off to my bed. I had the top bunk in a dorm of 4 beds – as I had arrived too late for sheets I just slept on the mattress – it was hot anyway! The guy below me snored for a while as did the other two when they eventually arrived – but it wasn’t too bad and I did get off to sleep! It had been a long travel day – but overall I felt good. I had eaten easily with no pain – maybe not enough, but I could soon remedy that tomorrow!!

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Have received a couple of brief emails from Paul and he has written on YesHesMad Facebook page. He has also managed to send a few more blogs through (detailing his time in Livingstone) despite a broken laptop!! Will get them posted as soon as possible! He sounds in good spirits and says he has had a fun week with lots of elephant sightings along the road. He is still slowly recovering - not able to race hard but able to complete the long riding days! After today's rest day (he is taking a flight over the delta this afternoon) they have 5 days to cover another 500 miles (800 km) so some very long riding days ahead en route to Windhoek. Sounds as though they are loving Botswana!!

Elephants in Botswana

Have heard very briefly from Paul as they have arrived in Maun for a rest day tomorrow having cycled 445 miles in the last 5 days! Apparently yesterday (113 miles) was a great day with lots of elephant sightings!! Internet access is not very good and Paul's computer screen is not working but hopefully someone will manage to get some photos and blogs uploaded for our enjoyment!!

And More Food - April 12

After a good night’s sleep I ate breakfast in the hotel – it was great and I didn’t have any trouble eating it! Back to the hospital I expected to be told off and for them to put another IV in. But they didn’t even mention it. They had already given me the injection to keep with me yesterday – so now they administered that! It took a little while – there seemed to be a lot there! My taxi was outside waiting for me (they like to do that rather than try to get another fare) – so after paying and retrieving my passport I had a final consultation with the doctor – he seemed to think all was OK – and told me I looked better!!! He advised me to lay off fried food for a while and to rest as much as possible! No problem!! I went to the cinema again and ate a good steak meal – in an effort to follow doctor’s orders!! My stomach wasn’t hurting and my appetite was returning – my goal now is to eat as much as possible and to build up my strength! I had arranged the day before to go over to Jessica’s place for dinner this evening – so I jumped in a taxi – bit of a nightmare journey though as I was so bad at writing down the instructions. Fortunately I had her address written correctly but still the taxi driver could not find the place – we kept going up and down the road looking for the number – eventually I paid him and walked along myself looking for the address – people were stopping to help me! The problem was that there were three different roads all with the same name! And it was dark of course with the lack of street lights making it even more difficult! Finally I found the apartment and had a really nice dinner with Jessica and a friend. She then very kindly dropped me back at the hotel at the end of the evening!!

Eating Again - April 11

Woke up in my hospital bed – a first for me!! Breakfast was pretty pathetic – 2 pieces of toast and some coffee. Then the doctor came by and asked how I felt!! He decided I should be discharged but return the following day for another injection (basically antibiotics for a stomach infection?) – he also gave me another pill to take later that day! I was pleased with the plan. As I didn’t have enough money to pay what I was owing I had to leave my passport at the hospital and a promise to pay when I returned tomorrow! They had left the IV needle in my arm for my return and taped it off but it was rather painful - I was not convinced the nurse who had placed it had done a very good job as it had really hurt at the time!!

Back at the Lusaka Hotel I caught up with a few of the TDA guys – which was good. And I am feeling better. Its so good just to say that! It had been the first morning for a long while when I hadn’t had to rush to the toilet first thing!! Now I am trying to eat. I had some chicken sandwiches and bought some grapes for my room. Much better.

I had already arranged to go out with Scott and his friend tonight so I just rested in my room and watched TV to get ready for my night out! Finally Scott called and he and Jessica came and picked me up. We went to the Polo Club and had a really nice dinner. It was great to be feeling good – I was happy and even smiling again!! Scott brought me up to date with news of the race. Jessica told me about the possibility of getting a stand by flight to Livingstone – and that seemed like a really good idea. I would really like to go on safari as I missed out before when I was feeling too sick. So I thought I would try to fly to Livingstone maybe tomorrow and book a safari – the only trouble is my big camera is still in my bag in the truck! But never mind – it will still be worth it! They dropped me back at my hotel and I said goodbye to Scott wishing him good cycling for the next three days!

I had earlier pulled the IV out of my arm as it had been hurting – I would rather be comfortable now and put up with having another one fitted tomorrow! My stomach had hurt a little this evening after I ate but nowhere near as much as before – so not feeling 100% but definitely better!

Hospital in Lusaka - April 10

OK – today I definitely need to go to the hospital and also change hotels! After breakfast I got a taxi to Lusaka Hotel – found it on the internet and then also spoke to Scott who said a few of the guys were booked in there. I had also researched the local hospitals on the internet and found one which looked really nice – however the taxi driver decided to take me someplace else – but it seemed to be a brand new facility, looked really nice so I decided to go for it!!

After a short chat with the doctor he gave me a proper examination – unlike the previous guy who just did the blood tests. The doctor said my stomach was definitely swollen and recommended that I was admitted for further tests and to get things sorted!! Yes – why not? At least I can be tested for everything!! I returned to the hotel to check out and grab my belongings. The hospital had really wanted 3000000 (local currency) as a deposit but I was only able to withdraw 1000000 – but this they accepted anyway!

Never having stayed in a hospital before it felt kind of strange – but as it turned out was quite nice! I was taken into the nurse’s room for blood tests and to have an IV fitted – unfortunately the nurse did not seem 100% confident in what she was doing – she kept going back and forth, getting stuff ready, calling in the doctor ….. Didn’t really set my mind at ease!! She sat me in a chair and had all sorts of things lined up it seemed – then she poked the IV in my arm – wiggling it around – really painful! It was making me feel really sick and faint! I really thought I was going to be sick all over the floor at one stage! Finally I told her “Look I need to be lying down” “Just let me finish” she kept saying! “No I need to lie down” “Just a minute, just a minute” Finally I just stood up and went over to the bed – fortunately as soon as I lay down I began to feel better! – even though she had to keep poking and pushing in my arm!! After all the blood samples and all the injections they took me off to the ward. It was really nice – there were two beds but I was on my own there! There was a huge flat screen TV on the wall. They sat me down and left me to it – unfortunately there was no internet access and no phone – I really felt I should try to contact Scott and let him know where I was – and really would have liked to contact mum as well. So I asked for a phone and a very kind lady lent me her own mobile phone – I made a quick call to Scott telling him where I was and then the credit ran out – I couldn’t very well ask for more could I? So it was a bit weird being there without any communication!! Very relaxing though and kind of pleasant – I sat and watched some movies. They brought me some dinner which I was able to eat – my drip just dripping away slowly all the time! The only problem was my fingers and arm really hurt from the IV. Later, about 7/8 pm and I was really hungry again. A nurse came and asked me if I needed anything so I asked for some water and was it possible to have a snack? The kitchen apparently was closed but she promised to send the lady from the coffee shop over. This happened and when I asked what they had she replied” Pizza, large cake, little cake and coffee” “Great – one of each please! “Pardon? Sorry that was pizza, large cake, little cake …….” So I answered again “yes please one of each and a cappuccino.” She didn’t believe me at first but eventually saw I was serious and brought me all that – it was really good to be able to eat and enjoy it all! “ Definitely better” I thought to myself – as I wolfed it all down! So I was feeling good – hooked up to the IV – getting plenty of medicine and fluids – which must help a lot as well. However much we try when riding it is very difficult to keep hydrated so it was reassuring that was all being taken care of. The best thing was that I could actually eat without my stomach hurting for the first time in about a month . So there was nothing else left to do but sleep!!

Lusaka - April 9

Woke up in my very nice hotel bed feeling OK but very bloated – something definitely not right. Had a good breakfast and then went for a walk round the Mall and decided to go to the movies (Scott and I had been planning to for ages and never quite had the chance) Then I tried to eat again but my stomach was really, really hurting. I had felt better for a while this morning – just the fact that I wasn’t riding! I went back to the hotel – it was really nice to just sit around and do nothing. I relaxed, watched some TV and charged all my electronic gear – much like any other rest day! Went for another meal – and then had a second night in a really nice hotel – expensive but well worth it!

Made it to the Lunch Truck - April 8

Had an OK night's sleep except for the light shining in my tent - but was still super tired when I got up this morning. I ended up just eating a few Frosties having missed the actual TDA breakfast. I packed away and was the last person on my bike - I felt sick and I felt miserable. I had had all these hopes about riding with the peolton today - but obviously that was not going to happen. I rode about 10km and was just so fed up - at 20km one of the big trucks passed and thats when I decided! I needed to stop and I needed to get better. The next truck and I would get on it. It wasn't directly behind so I kept looking back, looking back - but it still wasn't there! So then I carried on with my riding and it went past and I missed it. But I was pretty much decided at 20 km - no more EFI - I was done! So I started planning as I rode along - I would get myself to lunch (I was already imagining climbing into the lunch truck and falling asleep) - then I would get a taxi into Lusaka - I would find a doctor and I would get some real rest! So for the next 55 km I got myself used to that idea. I really wanted to stop and put my ipod in but I knew if I did stop I would find it really hard to get going again. I felt so tired, so wiped out - just no energy in me at all. I feel sick and my head is spinning and aching - I cant even remember the road! Well it was mainly paved although I remember slowing down even more when it get a bit bumpy - rolling hills through small villages - but really I was riding in a daze! I just wanted to get to lunch. I caught up with Ruth about 10km before lunch - and as I rolled past her I said "See you at lunch". She immediately came whizzing by me saying "I am quite fast on the downhills" - I didnt see her for another 5 km!! I was maybe slightly faster than her still going uphill so I did eventually catch up with her. In fact I could see her ahead with a local guy following really close behind her. I knew she wouldnt be liking that so I sped up ready to tell him to "Get lost". When I caught up he did back off and disappear - so then I chatted to Ruth all the way in to lunch. I had a little to eat but then climbed in to the lunch truck and pretty much fell asleep - I hardly even realised we had moved and arrived at camp! As soon as we arrived though I packed up my bag with everything I needed. People there kept coming up to me - some shocked/surprised at my decision - but mostly thought I was doing the right thing. They were worried I was upset - but by this stage I didnt care - I was happy that I had now made the right decision. And at least Claire (the nurse) was able to talk to me again!! The choice was settled in my head and I was fine with it! We stood out on the main road with my bag trying to flag down one of the many buses that had been flying past us all day. In fact I had actually got really mad at a bus driver earlier in the day and when I saw it stop I was going to jump on and tell the driver what I thought of him - it was travelling at 100 kmph plus and didnt even move out - they just drive by SO close as they go by and there is plenty of room to move out! Anyway the bus had gone before I got there - so that was probably just as well!! Anyway - the buses wouldnt stop. Then one of the local guides came by and said we were doing it wrong - they would just think we were waving at them. So we tried again but they still didnt stop. Eventually a car stopped so I decided to get a lift to the next village and try again from there. There were two very nice mobile phone salesmen in the car and they offered to take me all the way to Lusaka - perfect! I sat in the back seat with the windows open and nodded off for most of the three hour journey. I did buy them some petrol and they bought me a coke - so it was a good trip.

We arrived at a hotel in Lusaka but I didnt like the look of the place so got a taxi to the Zebra Lodge where Scott was planning to stay in a few days time. It was a guest house - clean but not very modern - but seemed OK. I dumped my bag and went immediately to order some food. Chicken and chips - an hour passed, then another 15 minutes - an hour and a half - in fact it was two hours before the food arrived. There was hardly any meat on the bones and the chips were not cooked properly. I was fuming - so mad! I went back to my room and packed my bag, paid my bill and got a taxi back to the shopping Mall I had seen earlier - where there was a fancy hotel. I knew it was going to be expensive but i didnt care - I needed somewhere decent! I had a splitting headache and felt really sick - but I knew I needed to try to eat something as I had hardly eaten anything all day. It was a very nice hotel - my room had a massive double bed and air conditioning and there was good food in the restaurant! I went to bed feeling happy!!

Elephant Highway

Start: April 17, Victoria Falls, Zambia
Finish: April 27, Windhoek, Botswana
Distance: 1,539km
Riding Days: 10 days
Resting Days: 1 days

9 Holes

Had a fun day yesterday - am enjoying being back with the group! Looking forward to 9 holes of golf this morning! Will catch up with the blogs later today.

Livingstone, Victoria Falls

Managed to discover what Paul is doing from Tori's photos! Looks like they are enjoying the sights and experiences of Victoria Falls. If Paul is looking a little green in some of the photos it is only because he doesn't like heights!! Here are a few photos - others can be found on his Facebook page for now:

Livingstone

Not much news (usually a good sign!) - but a brief email from Paul early today saying he had spent most of yesterday on a bus travelling from Lusaka to Livingstone. He also said that he was working on his bike which means he had met up with the tour as the riders reached camp today near Victoria Falls. There are two rest days there before the start of the next section on Sunday. I did hear talk of bungee jumping earlier on - lets hope he has recovered sufficiently to enjoy!!

The Longest Day - April 7

Woke up in my nice hotel bed! We got up late but had already decided to have the hotel breakfast not the TDA one. Bu the time I went to drop off my bag there were already people leaving. Sp we were going to be late again – but never mind! James, Bastiaan, Liam and myself ordered breakfast. By this time the trucks are leaving and I couldn’t find my button to check out – I had left it in my bag – but it didn’t really matter – I was past caring! We let the sweep know we were staying to have breakfast before setting off. It was the first morning I had woken feeling fairly decent – I was quite excited – things were looking up. After breakfast we set off with Gabe the sweep! We had to return up the dirt road from camp which was directly into a headwind – however we soon turned and then were helped along by a tailwind – flying along the road. James and Bastiaan were both feeling strong and were pulling me along – my babysitters – looking after me. I kept saying ‘thank you’ but told them they could leave me – but they stayed! 177 km – the longest day so far! At 45 km I needed to stop a while – but the boys were keen to keep going as soon as possible – so we did – all the way to lunch. We had lost Liam a little earlier as he was suffering from saddle sores. I was really hurting by now. After lunch I had run out of energy – just couldn’t go at any speed. After about 20 km we had a coke stop and I shared my Pringles and then I told them goodbye – so they eventually left me. I rode along with Len for a while – just plodding along. I kind of felt OK but completely lacking in energy – completely exhausted. It was going to be a long day and I just couldn’t get my head round that thought. I have been able to all the other times – when I found it easy to go that distance – but feeling sick makes it seem so much further! There was a rest stop at 140 km but I stopped before that at a little village at about 110 km and got some water. At the rest stop I was totally exhausted. I just lay down by the truck for about an hour waiting for people to come in. I finally realized there were only a few people behind me and as I didn’t want to be the very last I left. While I was lying on the ground I worked out that I could ride at 20kmph for 2 hours and be at camp or 30 kmph for an hour and 20 minutes and be at camp! So I got on my bike and decided to go for it. I was still monitoring my heart rate – trying not to let it get too high – it was in the 140’s and I averaged about 30kmph – great! The road was slightly better and the wind not too bad so that all helped. I finally made it in to camp in well over 9 hours (including all the rests) – my slowest day so far!!

Tomorrow is another long day - about 144 km. I lay in the grass for quite a while – and put my tent up managing to break a pole in the process which then I had to repair. Dinner was quite good – fried fish – and I ate two of them!! Had a hose end shower and went to bed. It had been a long hard day!

Team Malaria - April 6

We had breakfast in our room at the hotel – didn’t manage to eat much though I didn’t feel too bad – just my stomach still felt funny. We got a taxi back to camp and then Scott took his tent down. We were pretty much the last to leave. When the truck left Scott was still packing away as was Bastiaan. Finally six of us left together – they called us Team Malaria – in honour of myself and Bram (also confirmed with malaria) – and included the other Bram, James, Bastiaan and Scott. A good group – all strong riders – the 6 of us worked well together. We took a slow but steady pace and slowly caught a few people up along the way. It was a smooth decent road with rolling hills as it took us towards the border – not a lot to see – just a few small villages. We stopped for snacks along the way. I didn’t manage to eat much at the lunch stop and after that our group was split as people went their separate ways. At 110 km there was a village where we had been advised to spend our remaining currency – which we did. Then we continued to the border at 122 km – we had expected the entry visa to cost $150 but it was only $50 – so that was a good result! It took a while to get through but without all the harassment from last time.

After a little way out of the village I noticed some loggers at the side of the road. they had a tree propped up and they were cutting panels - like 1 inch wide boards from the 6 inch wide tree - so I checked my bike down, ran over there and had a little go. It was a massive saw - it was awesome. I will send the video over for you to see!!

There was still 20 km to go after that but Bastiaan, Scott and myself stopped at a little village a little further on where we ended up sitting for ages enjoying cheese sandwiches and coffee. Eventually we rode the last 8 km into camp. I felt it had been a decent day overall – I didn’t struggle too much with the riding - although I had felt really sick this morning and hadn’t managed to eat much during the day. The trouble is I just have no energy – no power at all.

It was a really nice Overlander camp and even though we were late we managed to get a room for Scott and myself to share. It was a great room with a huge bathroom! Just then it started to rain so we were really pleased we didn’t have to worry about our tents. After the rain Bastiaan’s stuff had got soaked so we managed to sneak him into our room to dry off! It was a good dinner – lasagna – and I got really excited at the thought of being able to eat well – unfortunately this didn’t happen. I still felt sick. Anyway we then watched some TV and had a good night’s sleep in a decent bed!

Tweet - Paul ate a Whole Pizza - April 5

Laid in till quite late and then just hung out trying to rest. Had two chicken sandwiches at lunch time so felt pretty good about that. Then we went food shopping before returning to the hotel to hang out. Went out for dinner that evening and managed to eat a whole pizza – so momentous Scott even tweeted to let everyone know!! So things are looking slightly better – lets hope this carries on. Returned to the hotel and an early night

BBQ in Lusaka!

Paul is still in Lusaka, having spent a few more hours at the hospital today getting some more antibiotics pumped into him!! Doctor was pleased with his progress and has just advised him to rest up for a few more days! And no fried foods!! This fits in with his plans to rejoin the tour in Livingstone ready to bike the last two sections of the tour. He is planning to try to get a flight there tomorrow on stand by! Right now he is off to some friends of Scott's who live in Lusaka as they have invited him over for a BBQ this evening! Good to hear him sounding so much better!!

Things are Looking Better

Not too many details but Paul got checked out in hospital yesterday. Apparently they did lots of tests and kept him in overnight. Good news is there is no sign of the malaria now - however it seems he has had a stomach infection which is what has been given him so much added trouble and why he didnt seem to be feeling any better. Back in his hotel room this morning he says with the medication he is now feeling a lot better and able to eat. He has to return to the hospital tomorrow for more antibiotics!!

Day of Decision - April 5

I managed to eat all my dinner for the first time in weeks - feeling a bit better! Have decided I am going to ride tomorrow but still take it easy!! We shall see how things go from there. Thanks for all your concern and support!

Rest Day, Lilongwe - April 4

So nice to just lie in bed this morning under the covers with the air conditioning on – no mosquitos a bonus! There was an awesome buffet at the hotel – eggs, fruit, cereal, croissants. Ate well but then of course felt sick afterwards. Lay down for a while before then walking into town – found a pizza place with ice cream and milk shakes. Ate there – same thing happened – felt awful – so returned to the hotel, lay in bed, watched TV and talked on the computer!! Kendra, Scott and Len went off to a pasta place but I stayed in bed. Had a really restful day and an early night was planned – just what I need.

I am really struggling with how sick I feel and what decisions to make. What I should be doing. I was told not to ride and am riding anyway. But how important is EFI? How important is the race? The most important thing is to recover – especially as I have plans for other events after TDA. This is an amazing experience but I don’t want to get hurt – I want to get better. I said I would ride these three days and see how I recovered.. So – I am going to see how bad (or good) I feel tomorrow – if not so good then I will possibly skip the next 5 days – get checked out in hospital – check the medicine etc etc. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and able to continue – even then I will take it really slowly until I am fully recovered. If I do decide to take a break then I would hope to return fit and ready to race again. I just want to do what’s best. Whatever – I am definitely going to be taking things easy over the next 5 days at least. Longer if necessary. And even then if I do feel bad again I will simply take the bus ahead. There is a lot of importance at camp about EFI – which is fine all the time you are well enough to keep it – it would be nice but is not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen! I would certainly rather take a week off and then join in the race again rather than struggle through each day just to keep EFI. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Riding with the Sweep - April 3

Woke up and already feel awful – I was not happy! I had shared the hotel room with James and we had already decided we would have breakfast there at the hotel at 6..30 which is after the trucks have left. So I was up at 6 , went for coffee and put my bags in the truck. Watched everyone leave in a manic rush – quite funny to watch them all. Then all the racers left and at the last minute I too badged out., just before the truck left! After breakfast we all left – I knew I was with the sweep so tried to get a little ahead! I wanted to ride a little quicker than yesterday – but it was really hard – I felt so sick. When I stopped for a pee break they all went whizzing by – shows how slow I was going!! The scenery was good but I wished I had some music. There were slight rolling hills – and definitely more money here – nice cars and electricity in the villages. They were also selling fruit along the roadside – tomatoes and pumpkins. Various seeds and tobacco could be seen drying alongside as well. They seem to be growing a wide variety of crops as well – corn ,tea, coffee, tobacco and even rice paddies. At about 40 km I stopped and sat under a tree for a while – the guys rode by and checked I was OK “Yes I’m fine!” Carried on and stopped at about 65 km for crisps and water at a petrol station. I decide I would try to drink a load of bottled water as the stuff we are given at camp is very heavily treated with chlorine etc – a lot of riders believe it is making them feel sick!! There were a few people at the lunch stop where I had a cheese and avocado sandwich – the bread was so bad I threw it away!! I suddenly realize after Wendy leaves that everyone else there was riding the truck. Whoops – I am really far behind now! Still – the sweep hadn’t turned up yet – it was Claire so she must have stopped off somewhere. Gabe would take over from her for the afternoon so I had some time before they caught me up. I had been feeling quite good at lunch but it didn’t last for long once I got back on my bike. The roads were good but there was a slight headwind to contend with. After about 20 km I caught the tail group as they had been at a coke stop – we chatted for a while but then I let them go off – I am not very good company! Then we started to descend – downhill now to Lilongwe!! I stocked up at a garage with some smarties and an energy drink. The last part of the ride now was down into town – it was a little bit confusing with the traffic lights and traffic as I had to check I was going the right way. There was a nice wide hard shoulder – nice except when it was full of glass – just like the bike paths in England!! I finally rolled into camp – looking forward to two days rest! Scott and Len had booked us into a hotel – with air conditioning – which is so nice when you are lying in bed. And I need to lie down in that bed – I feel as if I have gotten worse over the last few days not better as I had hoped!!

The Longest Day - April 2

Feel OK this morning despite not sleeping well – really slow getting ready – but on purpose. Going to just dawdle along today and try to keep my heart rate at about 100bpm. Breakfast was not too good – so I resorted to choc bars and bananas. Got on my bike and set off zig zagging along at the very back with Wendy. She would overtake me on the flats and I would catch up on the climbs. My heart rate was going up to 120 on the climbs so I try to get it down to less than a 100 on the flats. I just free wheel down the hills. There is plenty to look at today – a more wealthy area – lots of farms growing tobacco and corn – nice cars and houses. Obviously we are still passing through smaller villages and the kids are out in force in places. In Malawi they have been bad “give me your money, give me your bike, give me, give me ….” Nothing to do but try to ignore them though I always try to respond to waves and “hellos”. At least the kids here do not seem quite as poor as some we have seen – and the villages are much more active – there seems to be work to do. In some villages we have passed through there have been a lot of people sitting around with nothing to do and that has seemed a lot sadder. I zig zag along with Wendy all morning – we don’t really see anyone else until we stop for coffee. Suddenly there are about 15 of us all piled into a little café – quite fun! Then the sweep came along – I’d never seen the sweep before – the staff member who rides at the back behind the last person. Which at the time was Wendy but had been me for much of the time!! Anyway I drink my coffee and leave so I can get ahead of the group. But they soon all pass me – they are all really nice to me – very concerned – but this is the speed I have decided to stick to – I could of course go a little faster if I wanted to!! But it is really hard – it sucks to ride so slow!! Its OK for 10 km but really difficult for 120 km.

So – we keep dawdling along – free wheeling down and pedaling slowly up. Because you are going so slowly the kids have a lot more opportunity to shout and yell at you. Every single group expects some sort of attention. I try to wave and say hello but there are so many kids – so many people. There are less hills now as we leave the mountains behind – we seem to be crossing valleys – dropping down to a river bed then across the other side and over the top to the next one. It is all very green with lots of farmland.

We get to lunch – the group I’d had coffee with are all there. Lunch is awful but they pull out a slab of cheese – so I end up eating cheese, salad cream and oranges!! Off we go again – its going to be a long day!! The guys all overtake me once again – only Wendy is behind me!! At about 80 km we had a coke stop – but I wasn’t very chatty I am afraid. There was a tailwind that afternoon which helped and the rolling hills less steep. Then we were at camp. Lindsay had got me a hotel room so I was able to go straight to bed!!

No More EFI

Had a message from Paul earlier - he has made the difficult decision to follow medical advice and rest up for a few days. He has really struggled over the last few days with little chance of recovery. As he said himself - "I was so tired and my body was aching all over. Now I know what Marie means when she says her joints ache." He is happy with his decision and plans to rejoin the tour for the next section and will hope to have recovered enough to race again for the remaining two sections of the tour! One friend of ours who himself has suffered from malaria said he shouldn't have been able to get out of bed in the morning, let alone ride his bike for hundreds of miles!! Paul - we are so incredibly proud of you! Get well soon so you can enjoy the rest of the tour.

April Fool's Day - Is That Me? April 1

Day I riding with malaria diagnosis – it’s a mando day and I am riding against doctor’s orders. How bad can it be? I had promised to take it easy and have every intention of doing so. However it is a Mando day which means I have to keep any time I get today. I am not going to push hard and of course everyone knows so no-one expects me to do too much! I actually feel fairly good in the morning – had to take my pills in the middle of the night and felt better then than I had going to bed. This morning I felt OK – not too good – not too bad! I pack everything up and am one of the last ones to leave. The racers are all standing around and I hope they are not waiting for me. So I just badge out and off I go. At this point I am still trying to decide what to do – maybe I should go with the racers, ride really hard for the day and get a good time? But there is a lot of climbing today and I quickly decide I am not going to be silly – what I really want is to get better as quickly as possible. So I will ride easy – just try not to lose too much time. I worked it out that I could afford to lose about 50 % on the day – ie if they took 4 hours I would be happy with 6.

Immediately we start climbing. The scenery is amazing – we are in a pine forest – the loggers are out. Wish I had my camera with me. There are guys working in the woods and little huts everywhere – triangular shaped constructions made of timber and black plastic. It is a hive of activity as everyone is waking and getting ready to start work. There are people with axes and big saws and you can hear the chain saws off in the woods. Seems to be a mixture of the old fashioned way and the more modern techniques. The timber seems to be cut into boards on site rather then transported off to saw mills first as we would expect in Europe/ America. Here they either seem to cut by hand into more manageable boards – I saw quite a few people doing this – looked amazing – I would love to have stopped and had a go – or I would hear the power circular saws being used to cut into smaller pieces for transport. It was then carried out of the woods and stacked at the side of the road. Some stacks were obviously for drying – with boards lying flat or end up alternately allowing the air to circulate and help to dry. Then there were stacks ready to be loaded on to the trucks. There were also quite a few people carrying the timber on their heads!!

I was riding pretty well and although really tired the scenery was just so amazing – there was plenty to look at and take my mind off other things! We were riding through a slight mist as well – it was a great road!

At one point we passed a saw mill with all its big trucks out front and on the other side of the road there were women carrying 3 or 4 planks of wood – what a contrast! This activity continued all the way to lunch. There were a few people at lunch surprised to see me and although it was good I didn’t hang around too long. In the afternoon we left the timber work behind and passed through several small villages – and the sun came out. Timewise I was doing quite well and trying hard to keep my heart rate low. Up the hills I just drop to my lowest gear and pedal steadily. I manage to keep my heart rate under 130 in the morning and allow it to go up to 140 in the afternoon.

I hadn’t read the board properly in the morning and for some reason was convinced the day’s distance was 117 km. Getting close to this mark and I was feeling excited that the day was nearly done. But there was no sign of the flag – 117, 118, 119, 120 km. I am getting worried. How did I manage to miss a turn – surely there haven’t been any? I decide I will ride to 127 – I might have misread the number. I decide if camp is not at 127km I will continue to 130 km and then at this point that’s it! I will give up!! I will hitchhike back to wherever camp is. If that happens I will lose EFI which means there will be no reason to race so I will get a taxi to Lilongwe and grab some rest. This is what I decided in my head! Then I look back and see the Brams back in the distance and finally at 124 km there is the Finish Flag – such a relief! I pull into camp and everyone congratulates me – I am absolutely exhausted!

Got my tent up and let it dry out. Don’t feel too bad but don’t feel good that’s for sure! I just try to recover and hope that the medicine starts to work and I can still get better while riding. That’s the only thing I worry about – whether in a week’s time I still feel bad and then have to stop riding! Just hoping I can figure out the best thing to do. At the moment just lying here in my tent trying to recover and thinking about all the things I need to do – keep up with these blogs for one thing!!

Malaria - March 31

Description of ride missing ….

We rode through the final village to camp at a hotel. The rooms were expensive so I decided to stay in my tent. I was absolutely shattered – exhausted even though I had not ridden that hard today. Kendra came over with the news that a few guys were going to the hospital to get tested for malaria and typhoid and they thought I should join them. So I agreed. Everybody got tested but when it came to me there seemed to be a lot of discussion – it was decided I probably had acid reflux and that’s why my stomach was hurting – didn’t seem quite right to me?!! Apparently because I wasn’t suffering with diarrhea I couldn’t be ill! Eventually they decided they would test for malaria after all as it is possible to have it without diarrhea!! And – guess what? I have malaria!! At least that might explain why I have felt so ill recently and why I have been so slow. Claire immediately tells me – no more riding – and I am not happy about that! I walk the 1 km back to camp on my own just thinking about what I should do. What this really means. Back at camp they give me my medicine and I tell them I have decided I would like to try to carry on riding – I will ride really slowly and take care – but I want to continue. They tell me they can only advise me not to but they can’t stop me. At least I now have some pills to take – I do so and go to bed!

Rest Day at Chitimba Beach - March 30

There was a really nice breeze flowing through my tent this morning so I just lay there for a while enjoying it. My mat was still a little wet though! Went in to the restaurant and sat there for about 3 hours – just ordering breakfast. Had 2 full English plus 2 lots of fried eggs on toast! Plus coffee of course. There was a boat trip leaving but I initially decided against it as I wasn’t quite ready to leave. A little later back at my tent I heard they were still only just ready to leave to go fishing so I decided to join them after all. I really wanted to go in one of the canoe/kayaks they had there – basically a hollowed out tree trunk – and we thought there would probably be time to do that after the fishing trip. Sounded good. At the beach we hopped into a fairly unstable boat and were quickly joined by about 6 locals – not sure why as it was now definitely far too overcrowded! We set off with the boat rocking all over the place – Bastiaan jumped out straight away – he had already told me he gets sea-sick really easily and so quickly decided against the trip when he saw the situation. At this point I was thinking “Yes I should probably join him” – but I didn’t!! We chugged out at about 5 kmph and finally reached the fishing spot. The fishing rods were simply some line with a hook on the end – the hooks being way too big for the size of fish we wanted to catch. Anyway we did have some fun fishing for a while and had a few catches. But by now I am over it – it was meant to be a 2 hour trip and we had already been out 2 ½ hours and hadn’t turned back yet. I was starting to feel really “yuk”. It took us another hour for the return journey – the guy just dawdling along as if he was in a “no wake” zone. The boat nearly capsized when he went into a wave sideways. Eventually we got back to the beach with me feeling much the worse. By this time I was fed up and no longer interested in a possible kayak trip. On the way back to my tent I noticed all our laundry spread all over the beach to dry. We had given it to a local lady to wash in the lake – not realizing this was ho it would be dried! Interesting!! I rested for a while and then sorted out my bike and my tent. I decided to pack my bag and put it in the truck so all I would need to do in the morning would be pack away my tent and sleeping stuff – I should then be ready quicker in the morning! We then booked in for a meal at the campsite in addition to the TDA meal that evening!! I really am trying to eat as much as possible in an effort to make myself feel better!

Next Country - Malawi - March 29

We were warned that things might be stolen in the night – sure enough, I lost a water bottle! I had taken them both off my bike but must have left one outside my tent! It had rained hard in the night but my tent is proving to be great in the rain – no leaks – everything inside is dry. Although it is not a Race day today I am ready in good time so Scott and I set off together. It is now raining so I have my waterproof jacket on. We have been told it is 30 km to a supermarket where we are advised to stock up as there Is not much available at the beach resort where we will be tonight and tomorrow for our rest day (we cater for ourselves on rest days!). We rode the 30 km pretty quickly through the rain – and it was kind of fun! Very flat with farmland on all sides. I bought some sausage, baked beans, orange juice, chocolate bars and crisps - $50 – a real rip off! Outside it was madness – bikes, people, trucks and kids trying to steal stuff from your bags! We threw our stuff on the truck and set off in search of breakfast, riding in the wrong direction, !! But we found a lodge which was really nice and we were able to remove our wet clothes and dry them by the fan. At first they told us they didn’t have any coffee but when they saw this meant we would not be stopping they went off and found us some. We ended up sitting there for a couple of hours with eggs and coffee. It did take us a while to order – but we finally ended up with fried egg sandwiches – I had 4!! Just what we needed!

After a couple of hours we realized we were now miles behind so had to get going – we soon caught up with the sweep and arrived at lunch. Lunch was awful especially since there was hardly anything left by the time we arrived. So we carried on. We were starting to climb now and could see lake Malawi clearly, slowly getting closer and closer. There were 4 of us riding together but not in any organized sort of way and there was a headwind. I suddenly realized I was killing – we had been out on the road for a long time – those coke stops mount up – it had been a long day. Chatting with Bastiaan he asked how far we had left – I looked down and realized we still had 30 km to go – oh my god! We are all tired and stop talking now to concentrate on the riding. Bastiaan rides off with Scott and Liam and I struggle along together – both really hurting. Just wanting to finish! The lake is off to the left hand side which is nice but that is also where the wind is coming from! The roads were still rolling – some good downs with some short steep ups. We were inland a little but following the Lake shore – through lots of little villages with lots of annoying kids! Finally we see the Finish flag – we also see Scott up ahead ride right past it and hope he has actually noticed it as we are too exhausted to even think of chasing after him!! We still had to go 1 km down a sandy road – and tried to ride it but that wasn’t happening so we hopped off our bike. Of course this meant that all the kids would come and badger us. A few will actually want to chat which is really nice but the majority just scream for money. At the entrance to the resort we are met by all sorts of local pedlars – selling mainly wood carvings. But the gates are quickly opened for us and we are safe inside!! It is a really nice beach resort – looks a great place. However we have been warned they might struggle to cope with so many people at one time so we rush off to the bar to order food. No chance for a room unfortunately! The cheeseburger came quickly. After putting my tent up I returned to the bar for another cheeseburger – there didn’t seem to be a problem. However I had bought some extra supplies earlier so when it got dark we made a campfire and borrowed a grill to cook the sausages and beans. I actually cooked my sausage on a long wooden stick – a skewer! We washed it all down with a few drinks from the bar. It was a really nice evening sitting around the campfire before going off to bed with the prospect of a rest day tomorrow! Great!!

Race Day to Tanzanian Border - March 28

We all agreed to the same procedure as before – clock in and out together for the same times but free to ride with whoever and get through the border. I decide to ride with Kendra’s group. There is a pretty steep climb early on and I struggle to go as slow – I just don’t have the gears. So I am sometimes with the group, then get a little ahead and the re-join. It was good to climb for the scenery. We were once again travelling along a ridge line and the views were brilliant – gorgeous valleys on both sides – amazing scenery with Lake Malawi off in the distance. There were some good rolling hills – at one point I just free wheeled for about 12 km – just messing around – it was a really nice ride! We really took it easy with at least 4 coke stops.

10 km short of the border we see riders stop to change money – why? But we carry on to the border where we are immediately mobbed by money changers – I found it really annoying so rode on through – only to discover I had missed the clock out so had to go back!! We had agreed we were going to have the same time today and Jorg and myself thought we were the last ones through so ours would be the time that counted. So we then went in to the bar and ordered chip omelettes. But we were still being hounded by money changers – really in our faces and bugging us – even trying to sit with us. Very annoying and very pushy – I didn’t really have much to change – I was actually trying to spend it – but I didn’t want to go through these guys anyway!! Suddenly Scott arrives – whoops – we had thought we were the last to badge out. Anyway we made sure it was clear that we were all going to take his time today – so that was fine! I ended up eating three omelettes here.

Malawi was easy to enter – an dfree! Our passports were dealt with quickly. Once through the border I found a more official exchange office to change my remaining money and then found a bank to withdraw some more! I thought it was only 10 km to camp and had lost Kari who I had been riding with so carried on alone. It was a fairly bumpy surface and very flat with a headwind – the few km seemed to drag on and on. The kids were everywhere – and horrible – “Money, money, money ….” And sounding quite angry. I was of course right at the back and we have always said they get more wound up as more riders go through – so I was experiencing that today! Finally after 12 km there was camp. As I am one of the last there are no decent spots left – though to be honest it was all pretty awful – a ploughed field again! It was looking like rain so I quickly set up – we had also been warned about the likelihood of things being stolen here – but I am usually pretty good at keeping all my stuff together in my tent! It was a short afternoon in camp – also the clocks changed which added to the confusion. Basically when it got dark I went to bed!!

Day 3 in Zambia

141 km (about 88 miles) race day today - slightly shorter than yesterday's 177 km. A lot of miles to cover in these 5 days though - Paul promised to take it very steadily. No news from him - tracker seems to be working intermittently.

Rest Day in Mbeya - March 27

Not feeling good. The mosquito net wasn’t really big enough to go over the bed properly and I wake to find I have been bitten like crazy. Either my arm was touching the net or something had got into it earlier – whatever I have been bitten loads. Not good! I was late to breakfast, not that that mattered. I sat over breakfast for about 3 hours and watched the Formula One Opening Grand Prix in Australia – really enjoyed that – was a good morning. Afterwards I lay down in my room for a while. Later I decided I should maybe go and get some tests done so we walked down to the village but the clinic was closed. Wandered around the village looking for a supermarket and eventually ended up in a taxi to the opposite side of town. Found a supermarket and stocked up – bought a whole load of snacks. We had two days riding then a rest day at the beach where we had been told we might not be able to buy anything – and then we had 5 more days of riding – so I bought enough snacks for 7 days!! Returned to the hotel – my stomach is hurting. Had some bike maintenance to do – changed my tyres and sorted out the grip on my bars – had to use medical tape to secure it back in place. Was meant to change my brake cables – which are sliding like crazy – but I ran out of energy. Didn’t feel up to walking back in to town to use the internet so that was another job that didn’t get done – tried a process of eating a little then lying down to allow it to settle – grapes seemed to work well!! Eventually it was time for bed gain and had a better night’s sleep. Managed to give Scott the worng time in the morning, which meant we got up an hour too early. At least we were ready in plenty of time!!

Another Mando Day - March 26

I was packed and ready to go pretty early today – but not feeling any better. I wanted to grab some bananas to take with me but they were pretty disgusting today – not really good enough to stick in my jersey pocket or later. We all left together and I am so not feeling great – its going to be a very hard day …………………

Missing section


At the end of the day’s race we all sat round the table together to recover and eat – it was good – and I soon felt somewhat better. Jorg won the day which was great – unfortunately for Scott that also means he wins the section, which Scott was so close to getting. I know he had been counting on me to a certain extent to help him – but I was useless – I had no power at all. Feel bad about that. We ordered a whole bunch of food and a few drinks. I had been taking Cipro (antibiotics) for the last 8 days so expected to feel better! However it seems as soon as the food reaches my stomach I feel ill again – really awful! I gave up and went to bed instead, where I slept fitfully.

Coke Stop Day - March 25

Woke super early this morning – was all ready and my tent down and packed away before everyone else for once!! Then Paul comes over and says” Coke Stop Day?” I agree and go and tell Scott – he thinks we should say “No” as it must mean Paul is hurting – but we’d already agreed – and I was hurting and felt dreadful so suited me. Typical though – the day I didn’t need to be so well organized!! We checked out together and rode along fairly easily! After about 15 km Scott had a proposal “ I am sick to death riding with you all every day. I want to ride with someone else today. How about we make a deal and just wait for each other at camp to clock out together at the end of he ride. Then we can ride with whoever we want.” “Brilliant idea” I said and we all agreed! As soon as we agreed Scott slammed on the brakes and stopped – he was serious – he didn’t want to ride with us at all!!! So we all slowed up even more and eventually the next group caught up with us – and we rode with Tori, Adam, Steve and Carrie – it was really nice. The terrain and scenery were still unbelievable – and we were travelling along a sandy road but in good condition. There was jungle on either side and we did come to some very muddy spots it was easy to get stuck in. But we rode along in a big group, chatting and laughing together. Also met up with Liam and Kari and I enjoyed riding along with them – really nice! There was no hurry at lunch – which was so good today I ate three sandwiches. Steve warned me I would pay for that later – sure enough – 20 km out and my stomach was churning – I felt worse than ever! I struggled on and eventually we got to a coke stop at about 85km. We were still riding as a fairly big group. On the next downhill Luke took a nasty fall and grazed his back. Quite funny though – as we had Steve the Mechanic with us who grabbed his bike and fixed it – and then Carrie with her huge back pack full of supplies (which we had been teasing her about) was able to tend to his injuries!! All was well.

I ended up riding with Liam and Kari and we soon stopped for another coke stop. It is hard to get cold drinks though – I had my second Fanta – bit too many for me!! A few more people joined us which was fun. As we continued I realized the sun was burning on my shoulders – first time I have been out riding past 12 o’clock for weeks now!! But I am feeling good – eventually Liam and Kari drop back when we go up a climb and all of a sudden Scott appears. We chat and compare notes from our day – like me he had enjoyed riding with a variety of people – we had both enjoyed not racing! So – time for a last coke stop for the day – Liam and Kari also turn up and join us. There was a strange lady sitting at the table with us – chatting away - Liam speaks a little Swahili and suddenly realizes this might be a brothel!! So we drink up quickly and rush away!! 10 more km to camp and we completed our longest day – 7 ½ hours.. we arrived at camp where Jorg and Paul were duly waiting for us and we all clocked in together with the same time! Great! It was a really nice day.

We camped in a football field again and it seemed the whole village came out to meet us. Just far too many people though and so noisy. Kendra had set up my tent for me underneath a tree in the shade – perfect – but unfortunately it was near the boundary where all the villagers were congregated – and I was a bit wary of leaving stuff unattended. We wandered down to the village and bought some biscuits and snacks. We haven’t had crowds like this for some time now – it was really strange. Not feeling good! Mando day tomorrow so I try to eat to keep my strength up.

No sign of Wildlife - March 24

It was cool to wake up in the Ranger’s building this morning! I was so hungry though – got up really early so had to wait for breakfast till 6am – weetabix, bread and bananas – a good one – and I tried to eat as much as possible. Paul leaves with Mike the Mechanic fairly promptly - I would have liked to have left with them but wasn’t quite ready. Scott, Steve, myself, Jorg and Adam all badged out together. Adam and Steve immediately decide to ride a little slower – but Jorg hits the front and immediately starts flying – I really struggle at the best of times to go so fast without a warm up – the pace was killing me! I struggled to hang on all morning. Every time I hit the front I had to bring the speed down so Scott and Jorg ended up doing most of the turns at the front. The road was a lot less busy today – though the same sort of surface – a little bit of corrugation and a few pot holes but fairly smooth overall – didn’t need to move around much to find a decent way through! Long day today – 124 km – but at this rate will take less than 4 hours. We are steaming along but I still don’t think we will catch Paul and Mike – they are too far ahead! We gave them too much time and there is no reason for them not to be fast. Lunch at 61 km – I avoided the egg salad and made a peanut butter sandwich instead along with some bananas I had in my pocket! After lunch Scott and Jorg are obviously feeling a lot better than I am – they are flying along at over 30kmph on the flats and 36 – 40 kmph on the downs. I am just struggling so much! We did see a few baboons today – but no sign of wildlife amongst the long reedy grass and thick bush we were passing. No people out today except in the few villages we cycled through. Finally at about 85 km I felt so bad I slowed up and told them to go ahead. But as soon as I said that they agreed they were hurting too and also slowed up. My back was really hurting – maybe I have some sort of problem with my kidneys? I rode with Jorg for a while, but he was still too fast for me – I filled up with water and bananas and settled myself into a slower but steady pace. Told Jorg to chase Scott and ride with him. Had about 30 km to go and felt a lot better on my own. Then we hit the sand where they were re-grading the road – it was like riding on the beach with the bike sinking and swirling – really hard work! At one point I was going about 13 kmph – though it might be quicker to walk. Anyway I carried on and tried to ride strong through the sand. After that there was only 10km to camp – I rode fairly well and only lost about 10 minutes to Scott and Adam. It was so good to be finished.

Long Day in Zambia

111 mile ride today in the rain in Zambia. Tracker showed Paul moving along at a slow but steady pace!! No more news from him just yet!

Riding Alone - March 23

Although I got up really early again this morning I didn’t really do anything for a while – just sat around. By the time I had actually eaten breakfast lots of people had already left and I was the last person to take my tent down and get packed away. I didn’t really mind though as today was meant to be an off road day – and meant to get worse. I like to leave last and catch people up when we are on dirt. So I am not too worried. I hop on my bike and start riding and catch Dennis just down the road – we ride together and then join Luke who does a long pull at the front for me. Really good!!

However we are realizing the road is still the same smooth gravel- a few pot holes maybe – but definitely not bad. Still possible to ride as a peloton and gain some advantages that way. I hadn’t thought today was going to be like that so my hopes of catching up on dirt are quickly dashed. The main group is way ahead and eventually I am left to ride on alone to try and chase them. I ride pretty well – the scenery is very cool – thick bush on either side of the road and loads of villagers on bikes! Rather confusing at first when I kept thinking I could see the other group up ahead! But by now I had accepted I was not going to catch them – they will be able to ride much faster as a group than I can alone. However I am riding quite well and when I get to lunch Kendra tells me they are only about 10 minutes ahead of me – about the same amount of time I left after them this morning. So I ate lunch really quickly and got back on the bike – the bread is not great at the moment which makes eating sandwiches more difficult (especially at 9 am) The afternoon ride also went well – and I felt quite good. It was 113 km – quite long for an off road day – which although was overall quite smooth did have a few sandy patches – also some good downhills! I arrived at camp feeling fairly strong – just as the trucks arrived. Scott had won the day – he had been with Paul, Jorg and Mike – and then in the afternoon had managed to get away with Mike and so gained a good win! He said it was tough! I was pleased I had managed my day well – although I had ridden hard I had managed to preserve energy and for a change I did not need a long recovery when I got to camp.

It was difficult to try to find a good tent spot at camp – on what was basically a ploughed field. People ended up on terraces and the driveway. There was suddenly talk of taking over one of the empty Ranger’s stations – we are again staying at a Game Post. So we managed to sort out a deal where for about $7 we took over one of the empty buildings – sounds pretty good!! Very basic – a couple of rooms and a concrete floor – myself, Sebastiaan, Mike, Tori, Kendra and Kari all agreed! We are just going to throw our mats on the floor. So we open all the doors and windows to allow some air to flow through and freshen it up a little. Great – no tent to worry about in the morning – especially good given as how slow I was this morning!! The Rangers even cooked some chips and sold us some beer and Fanta!! We all relaxed and hung out on the terrace. The sun came out and it was a glorious afternoon – I even managed to dry my tent through thoroughly. Dinner wasn’t so good for me – a very spicy pasta with lots of weird vegetables – I did manage most of the pasta but eventually went to bed still feeling hungry and only able to find one energy bar for my midnight snack!!!

Disappointing Dirt - March 22

After last night’s torrential rain and storms I was up and ready quite early this morning. My tent was fantastic – everything inside has remained dry. We have 60 km of pavement ahead this morning and the promise of some off road this afternoon – I am really looking forward to that! We leave as a group, Scott, Jorg, Paul, Adam and Steve – and ride pretty fast all morning (I was hurting so thought it was a hard ride – everyone else seemed to think it quite easy!!) the road was pretty good – a bit bumpy but we had our big tyres on so that was good – just more difficult to get your speed going. Lunch was at 60 km. I was excited as we had to go off down a muddy trail which looked good for the afternoon!! After lunch Paul leaves and we all hop on our bikes to follow – probably about 200 m behind. The first 500 m was really muddy and sloppy – really good ………. – then ahead of us we heard Paul shout with delight:” Yes – look at this …” He has pulled out on to the road and we realize the muddy trail was just a short cut through to the main road – an extremely smooth fravel road!! Smoother than the one we had been on in the morning in fact! So – there we are – all flying along faster than the morning’s speed!! Unfortunately I was beginning to feel really ill – especially my stomach – and was struggling to keep up. Jorg and Scott took turns at the front going as fast as possible – I just concentrated on hanging in there. Although I was disappointed in the lack of dirt the road was quite amazing – heading in to a Game Reserve – bushes and trees on either side of the road. Bright yellow dirt again. The last 20 km did deteriorate but it was too late to make any difference – Scott and Jorg were going strong and Paul had no difficulty keeping up. I just hung in with the group and was pleased to make it through to the end of the day! Camp was at a Game Post – which we more or less took over for the night!

Super Sloppy Mud - March 21

Woke up super early in the hotel – even before my alarm which I had set for 5 am. After breakfast I returned to my room for a while before going out and just watching everyone get ready. I didn’t feel fantastic. I had my rain jacket on while waiting – but took it off just before we left as although it was wet it was also warm! We checked out and rode down to the main road where it started to rain which meant jackets back on! We were on a dirt road, which was quite nice – there were various tracks all over the place. For the first 15 km it was raining – we reached a downhill where I shot ahead of Paul but then he soon caught me again on the smooth and was right behind me. It was so smooth it might as well have been tarmac – so there was no point in racing – we just rode together. It was pretty cool though – a long stretch of bright yellow road leading off into the distance. We climbed higher and were soon pretty much on the ridge line and just continued along the top with amazing views in both directions. We rode alongside a crater, which was pretty awesome. Thought it was a valley at first but there was no outlet so we realized it was a crater. It was all very green. The rain stopped at about 15 km. There were basically two roads we were following – the new one they are building which mainly has dirt on it which they are in the process of rolling and smoothing. Then off to the right is the road for the trucks – pretty awful. But as we are on bikes we can keep to the new sections under construction. After about 30 km the newer section petered out to piles of sand and so we had to move on to the old road – super sloppy mud – actually quite good fun for a while. – sliding all over the place. I didn’t try to lose Paul at this stage – just enjoyed it – I was expecting more of the same after lunch and planned to lose him then! So we rode it together and then got back to the smoother surface again. Pretty much just riding along enjoying the scenery and ignoring the road. My plan was to attack in the afternoon. We arrived at lunch at 70 km. Unfortunately the afternoon proved disappointing as the road continued to be smooth going – not the dirt I had hoped for and so my plans for taking off were dashed. Scott talked about attacking but there was no point – I cant lose him on this sort of smooth surface. So we just carried on, enjoying the views. I really wished I had my video cam today of course! The views were amazing. The villagers were also out in their tribal shawls. We just followed the ridge line – along rolling hills with the long yellow road ahead. Hope somebody took some photos!! The huts are no longer made of mud but of bricks instead. The afternoon ride was easy on the smooth dirt – after 90 km it was tarmac. We rode through a small village and had about 20 km to go – I tried to get Paul to ride out front. His bike was making some awful noises – as was mine. The morning’s sloppy mud had really stuck to the bikes – my rear cassette in particular – which affected the gears – too much mud in between the teeth – so I tried to ride through puddles to clean them a little. However this meant I also got soaked – especially sandy water in my bike shorts – which then rubbed and made my bottom sore! Not good! At least my gears worked better though!

Anyway at about 100 km the lube on our chins had completely dried out and so our bikes were making an awful racket. Paul’s sounded worse – as if something was slipping. So he was in front going about 17kmph so I went out in front and he let me go but still seemed to keep up OK. Then if he went out in front he would slow the speed right down! We got to some really dodgy speed bumps – they would be in sets of 5 – and you had to be really careful so I preferred being out front then so I could see what I was doing!! We eventually pulled in to camp at the same time – well Scott and Jorg will have faster times overall as they left a little after us.

We camped at the side of the road. Rain had been threatening all day and continued to do so in the afternoon – nothing too much as yet though. The trucks had not arrived yet so we had to sit around and wait for them and it drizzled on us a little. When they arrived we quickly put our tents up. There were lots of channels/valleys so we picked some high ground to pitch them – which turned out to be quite good. I actually managed to get my washing out and dry in the afternoon – hadn’t dried in the hotel yesterday/last night. Went down to the river and washed through some bike shorts – I only have 5 pairs and we have 8 days of riding in this stretch so it is important to keep up with the washing. Haven’t decided which ones to wear tomorrow yet – will have to see how good my river washing proves to be. Right in the middle of yoga it started to rain – so we all ran off to sort out tents etc and I took in my washing! During the meal the rain was torrential and we were all huddled together under the tarpaulin. Several people realized their tents were not in good positions and there was much running around trying to dig little moats and channels with shovels. Some tents had to be completely re-sited!There was a river running under the big truck and slowly under our feet where we were sitting. When it calmed down I made a run for my tent where I am now – pretty much ready to go to sleep. I can still hear a lot of people outside getting themselves organized but it looks like it is going to rain hard again so I might as well stay in here and keep dry and go to sleep. Good night!