Round and round we go

Stage: 68
Day Total: 158.2km
Total Time: 6:34
Avg. Speed: 22km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 121bpm
Total Climbing: 749m

Song of the Day: Aerosmith – Dude Looks Like a Lady

After a memorable, fulfilling rest day in Lusaka, I arrived back at camp at 5:45am ready (not necessarily willing) to hit the routine again. Much to my benefit, Jessica agreed to drop me at our base of operations, the Great East Hotel, and within minutes I was stuffing my face with oatmeal and bananans. Truth be told, I started eating with even greater gusto once I learned I would be riding 158km today, 182 tomorrow, and 151 the day after. That’s an average of 101 miles per day for the 3-day’s ride into Victoria Falls. Let’s just say I’ve never ridden that far in 3 days and leave it at that.

The “racer” group in camp were discussing options for the day and seemed keen to incorporate as many riders into the bunch as possible to make a long day slightly easier. I decided to oblige and rolled out of camp with a group of seven others. Early morning traffic in Lusaka was not terrible but escalated as we left the city center and started rolling through the countryside towards Kakfue. This seemed to phase the bunch not at all and the roads combined with favorable winds led to a very swift pace early in the day.

I continue to be amazed with the beauty of the countryside in Zambia. Its vast expanses of undeveloped land populated with healthy trees and vegetation are stunning. The highlight of the morning was the crossing of an unamed river. The scene seemed tailor-made for game and wildlife and I half expected to see a hippo lazing on the beach. My time spent in blissful daydreaming quicly ended when the incomprehensible tactics of the the group ensued and the pace quickened to ludicrous speed in short order. This continued for the next 30 minutes and if not for the size of the group ensuring that there was ample rest between turns on the front I would have gracefully bowed out for lunch.

As it were, the kilometers ticked away and with 2km remaining until our lunchstop at 78km a steep climb greeted us. The dynamic Dutch duo of Bram and Bram set a rapid pace up the slope which left nearly everyone reeling. Knowing that we would be stopping at lunch I settled into the climb to simply ride steadily while everyone else matched the Brams’ acceleration. The surge proved too much and as the remainder of the group drifted back towards me, I accelerated to pass them all swiftly. None of this mattered with the lunch stop only minutes away, but I did it anyhow to prove that the senseless, eratic tempo set in the morning comes at a cost. This is easy to do when you know you have a choice to not ride with them after lunch. This is the freedom of not racing!

The race group had the typical quick lunch. Having already made up my mind to ride without them for the balance of the day, I was free to analyze the activity around the lunch truck. Everyone who is still concerned with the race was present in our group and as such, there was nobody to chase up ahead. Still, they insisted on a very rapid, short lunch break with some carrying food as they rolled off on their bikes. Why? Odd.

I rode out of lunch with multi-bike Mike, the two of us riding steady but easy for about 10km until we made a coke stop. It wasn’t that I needed it, but the place looked interesting and photo worthy. Tori was already present eating chips and soon after Gary rolled in and ordered fried chicken. Sometimes I am confused as to whether this is bicycle tour or an eating tour. The two seem to form a mutualistic relationship so often.

As I departed the coke stop, two of the Australian riders, Luke and Terry, rolled by and I tagged along. I immediately noticed that Luke had shaved his mustache. Having been nicknamed “the gay Latin pornstar” by Terry and “the Castillian” by myself, he appeared to be man without an identiy. Well, at least to us it seemed that way. I made comment of the missing facial hair and he quickly laid into me about my “Amish chinstrap” of a beard. He addressed me as Abraham and wanted to know if I had spent my rest day fabricating wooden furniture and backing bread pudding.

The smooth pavement, favorable winds, and flat terrain enabled a steady, quick pace and we covered the distance to the town of Mazabuku with little effort. I sat on the front nearly the entire time which earned me another nickname – Farlap – in homage to the famous Australian race horse. We stopped for cokes at a place that also served pizza and once Mike arrived, the pizzza was ordered. Not bad at all, this pizza stop thing.

One last stop in town at the Shoprite store was required for Terry and Luke for the TDA-sponsored competition being run over the next 10 riding days. The competition, consisting of a “special task” on each of these riding days, fantastically called Bo-bo-bo-bonanza, pitts teams of three against each other with a popular vote deciding the winners. Terry and Luke needed additional accesories for the opening act of the competition, a team costume contest, and were hopeful that a grocery store would fulfill their needs. I waited outside with the bicycles discussing the merits of our trip with a local man who seemed to be imbibing in his favorite spirit during the noon hour. To his credit he seemed vaguely familiar with both Cairo and Cape Town but was unwilling to believe that we had ridden bicycles from Egypt to his town. This did not prevent him from asking us for some money, and when that did not work, our bicycles. I explained to him that I had an appointment to get to and he apologized for delaying me. Luke and Terry returned shortly thereafter and we rode the final 20km into camp.

Camp tonight is in the “Oasis” campground. I searched – in vain – for anything resembling an actual oasis. It did have flushing toilets and a working shower which is good enough. The resident canine Spencer made the rounds, introducing himself to anyone willing to scratch his ears. He is officially dog #37 on the list of animals I would love to take home with me. Dinner was a delicous South African dish, bobotie, consisting of rice, minced beef, spices, and egg. The concoction is then baked in a large pot under coals and the end result is something approximating the perfect post-ride meal.

All things considered, the body feels pretty good. Two long riding days await, tomorrow being 182km, the longest ride of the tour thus far. I have been asked if these things make me nervous and the answer, at this point in the trip, is quite simply “no”. 182km is only 5km longer than the 177km ride we survived last week, and at a modest pace, will take no more than 7.5 hours. That’s still less than a day in the office. Sometimes all you need is a little perspective…