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!