Round and round we go

Stage 39
Day Total: 80.0km
Total Time: 3:57
Avg. Speed: 20.2km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 109bpm
Total Climbing: 163m

Song of the Day: Five Finger Death Punch – War is the Answer

To quote Hannibal from the A-Team: “I love it when a plan comes together”. Well said. Today’s ride was the gift of a recovery day I had been seeking since the ride into Yabelo though I would not have expected it to be delivered to me on an offroad day. Take ’em when you can…

We left the border town of Moyale and quickly descended into an area of red dirt and scrub forest. Visibility was limited early on as we rode directly into the sun but once the road bent a bit the land was visible in all of its splendor. Colorful birds and dik-dik (very small, deer/antelope animal) punctuated our progress down the straight dirt road, the morning temperatures with the relatively smooth surface of the road making for a very pleasurable ride. Periodically the road became heavily corrugated but our easy pace and serene surroundings dulled the discomfort it typically causes. The lunch truck was not faring as well as its suspension is not precisely optimal for these rough roads. It never passed us, so we stopped at the 42km mark to let it pull into its appointed rendezvous point. Everyone relaxed while lunch was prepared. This is a marked difference to most days when lunch is sometimes viewed as an interruption (never by me admittedly).

The remainder of the ride was carried out at the comfortable pace set into lunch. Rolling into camp by 11am we got a nice treat in the form of a small shop selling cookies and cokes. It seems I picked the wrong year to stop drinking soda… Oh well, 2 of them won’t hurt will they? Camp was invaded by curious children eager to let us practice our fledgling Swahili skills. They cheered our successes and laughed at our mistakes. A very large, empty water tank provided amusement for all as Bastiaan stuffed 3 kids inside of it and proceeded to roll it around the grounds. The kids laughed last when he went inside the tank, the tank rolled, and there was a large thud.

After crashing twice in one day in the Sudan I had broken my left pedal. Crank Bros pedals with their 4-sided entry made this a non-issue for many days, however the pedal has now bent and my foot continues to pop out unannounced. Out with the old, in with the new set from my reserve of bike spares. If I’m honest, the bike looks quite smart with the new pedals, this set featuring small white platforms with anodized red springs.

Tomorrow is another “mando” day – day 1 of 2 on the infamous northern Kenya lava road. Tour Director Sharita, the quiet, capable leader, added just a few words to the end of the rider meeting to underscore the severity of these coming stages: “These are the 2 hardest days on tour. Take a lot of water as it will be f’ing hot out there. The road goes from bad to absolute crap. OK?”. I love her directness even if I don’t like the message… Ominously, we were served grilled steak for dinner (think 50 crazed animals eating steak for the first time in 6 weeks). What can this mean?