Round and round we go

Day Total: 107km
Total Time: 4:36
Avg. Speed: 24.7km/h

Song of the Day: Def Leopard – Love Bites

Today’s ride may have been my favorite of the tour thus far: cool temperatures, no nausea, a bit of climbing, interesting mountain scenery and rock formations. Oh yeah, and I didn’t feel like shite the whole time. That’s a big deal.

We were meant to convoy to the town square this morning to take photos with the students from the school who had received new uniforms. Reality had us rolling the 2km to the town square through heavy donkey/truck/pedestrian/sheep traffic sucking on noxious vehicle exhaust while trying to dodge wheel-wrecking holes in the pavement. That, and the fact that only about 8 of the 80 students who received uniforms turned out for the gathering. What can one do? The ultimate proof that this PR exercise was not aligned with the stars arrived when Tony, the organizer of the school support program, had his bicycle computer stolen off of his bicycle. I’m not sure what the thief would do with such a device. Perhaps you can modify it and turn it into a pacemaker…

A small group formed early consisting of the usual cast of characters: Paul, myself, Jorg. We pulled a few others along, all commenting on how rusty the legs felt after two days of no riding. It was a bit of a struggle, particularly the first rise in the road which left me looking repeatedly at my wheel to see if something was in fact wrong with the rear brake. It was not – I just felt that poorly early on in the ride.

We ambled along through the countryside accompanied by the ever-present “You you you you!” and “Where are you go!?!” of the children. I still marvel at how every single child (and some adults) without fail yells this as you pass by on your bike. What the hell does it mean? Where did they learn it? Do they even know what they are saying? Something tells me I won’t ever know. That said, at least they were peaceful. Others received a few rocks to the back or the bike, but our group only got one. The rider reacted rather explosively, yelling at the child. I told him to calm down and consider himself fortunate – the rock only hit his bike frame and not his body.

The riding was a sharp contrast to our days in Egypt and Sudan with extensive small-scale agriculture, trees, and rolling foothills to the horizon. Large, dramatic rock spires projected out of the hillside in two places and one could draw similarities to the landscape of northern Thailand. I am sure this landscape is even more stunning during their rainy season when the hillsides are green and the riverbeds are at capacity.

The ride featured two medium-sized climbs which our group took at a reasonable pace. No need to push (for me at least). The second of the two was a bit longer and I eased a bit more to avoid exerting myself to any degree – there simply was not a full tank of energy on board. Jorg, Adam and myself stopped at the top to admire the view before committing to the long, swift descent.

We rolled into our camp off of the side of the road and were immediately surrounded by children and livestock once more. A small rope forms the perimeter of the camp and as you walked towards it you were accosted by children and their trademark “You you you you!”. No surprises there. They stood up against the rope perimeter and continually yelled this so I figured I would approach them. I stood there for 10 seconds before they stopped. I was determined to teach them some new words.

I started by waving and saying hello. They all repeated it back to me: “Hello”. We continued with a “How are you?” and a “Nice to meet you”. They seemed to pick it up rather quickly, it sounded great, and they were using the phrases without prompting. Even if used out of context, at least it appeared there would be relief from the You You You death chant. I turned my back to return to my tent and realized the futile quality of my effort as I was hit with a You You You/Money/You You You triple-shot combination. Defeated, I laid down in my tent for the first time during daylight hours and enjoyed a 2 hour nap. I haven’t decided if I will continue my efforts or not – we will have to see how tomorrow goes.