Round and round we go

Stage 38
Day Total: 81km
Total Time: 2:45
Avg. Speed: 29.3km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 126
Total Climbing: 359m

Song of the Day: Weezer – Buddy Holly

A gentle night’s sleep camping amongst termite mounds and a handful of thorny trees meant good energy when I awoke. This morning saw another modification to the morning routine, specifically, the introduction of music to my daily preparations. The effect was quite positive as I could move through the now ritual-like actions with a good beat in the background.

After yesterday’s ride I was intent on leaving earlier and not serving as the pack-mule for everyone else. Jorg and I set off roughly 15 minutes ahead of the others and overly newly paved roads made very good time for the first 35km of the ride. Lunch came early – just 1h 30m after leaving camp – and the length of the stage didn’t warrant a full meal (I was still stuffed from breakfast) we topped off the bottles and got rolling again in under 4 minutes. Adam passed by us at lunch, we battled with him for a while until I mounted a big move on the longest hill of the day. Unfortunately, as we neared the border there were a series of ropes blocking the road and the gap was closed. With that, the 3 of us rolled into the Ethiopian border town of Moyale for the conclusion of the stage.

We spent the last of our birr (Ethiopian currency) before processing our exit documentation. Compared to the 4 hour ordeal upon entry, this 15 minute process time felt like a dream. Entering Kenya would be equally quick, and by 10am we were setting tents at the Kenyan Wildlife Services administrative compound. A cluster of small buildings and some open land, the campsite did feature 2 flushing toilets and 2 cold showers. While not a slave to luxury, I appreciated the shower after the heat and dirt of the previous days.

A quick while later we walked back into the town for a meal. It was a bit of a battle to find something suitable but finally located a clean establishment serving beef stew. It wasn’t spaghetti bolognaise, but it did the trick. Snacks purchased, Safaricom SIM card activated (for local Kenyan mobile phone service), and beer consumed (1 Tusker, 1 Guiness), it was back to camp. Dinner was fantastic, easily one of the best of the trip: beans, rice, mango salsa, scrambled eggs, and tortilla-like bread called chupati. I overate as usual…

4 days down, 3 to go in this stretch. The final two days cover the 170km stretch of terrible road through the lava fields. I have heard that these are two of the toughest days of the whole tour so tomorrow will have to be ridden sensibly.