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

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!!

Zambezi Zone

Zambezi Zone 722 Km
Wed Apr 6 Stg 63 Lilongwe to Mama Rula's camp 152 Km
Thu Apr 7 Stg 64 Mama Rula's to Zulu Kraal camp 177 Km
Fri Apr 8 Stg 65 Zulu Kraal to School camp 141 Km
Sat Apr 9 Stg 66 School to Jehova School camp 148 Km
Sun Apr 10 Stg 67 Jehova School to Lusaka camp 104 Km
Mon Apr 11 Rest Day

Feeling a Little Better

Had a long chat with Paul before he went to bed this evening (7 hours ahead of Roswell in Malawi). He sounded so much better than he did yesterday, although a long way to go to full recovery. He had a good dinner and has decided to get back on his bike and ride tomorrow, though is going to take it very slowly again! The next section of the Tour is called Zambezi Zone and takes the riders through to Victoria Falls in Zambia. Here's wishing Paul a good night's sleep!

Update from Paul

Have spoken to Paul earlier - all is well, although he is still feeling nauseous and not as well as he had hoped after the medication kicked in. He is hoping a couple of days rest will sort that out and that he can then continue riding on Wednesday. However if he has not recovered sufficiently he may consider having a day off from the riding as this does not mean he will have to withdraw from the race! Good that he is being sensible about it all!! Fingers crossed that he makes a good recovery!!

Lilongwe, Malawi

Email from Paul: "Hey sorry its been so long .......
Felt so sick on the rest day in Mbeya and the internet was not close
so didn't bother - then felt sick at the beach and the internet was so
slow with everyone trying to use it.
Still felt sick so rode on my own and took it easy - when I got to camp i
was wiped out and there were people going to get some tests done so I
went too and it turns out I have malaria.
So good news at least i know what is wrong and I have taken the
medicine. They told me not to ride and I said not happening so I agreed
to ride very slow and take it easy ..
It has been a very hard 3 days ride but now I am in a nice hotel ready
to sleep for the next two days .........."

No April Fool!

Received Pauls automatic check ins from his tracker for yesterday and today so must assume all is well! Set off yesterday from Chitimba beach for a 136 km ride in the torrential rain up into the mountains to Mzuzu en route to their next big stop in Lilongwe. More of the same terrain today. A few people are getting some photos through and it looks spectacular - let's hope Paul finds some Internet access soon!

Leaving Chitimba

Paul's tracker seems to be sort of working today - shows them as having set off from Chitimba climbing away from the Lake for a while. This is a description of what lies ahead.

After crossing into Malawi the Tour follows the shoreline past fishing villages to Chitemba Beach, which has been a haven for Africa Overlanders for many years. Malawi is especially well known for its skilled hardwood carvers, and here they will find a large crafts market with beautifully made walking sticks, chairs, “trees of life,” Chitemba Beach offered a wonderful respite from the journey.

Leaving Lake Malawi there is a climb up the escarpment into the central plateau en route to the provincial capital of Mzuzu. Here it is quite normal to be pedaling alongside some of Malawi’s many cycling farmers, as they transport chickens, grain, and just about anything between their villages and the nearest market. Then the riders swoop back down to the shores of Lake Malawi and a well-earned rest day at Kandi Beach.

Chitimba Beach

Todays rest day on the beaches of Lake Malawi sounded idyllic according to other bloggers. However still awaiting news from Paul directly. Apparently internet access is not too good!

Masai Steppe Results

Results are posted. Although Paul has had a slower stage and mando day the overall standings have not changed too much. Scott just missed about by about a minute on the mando day from winning the section. He was beaten to the post by Jorg, who is in third place overall. Rest day tomorrow.