March 25

Another fabulous day of cycling... or at least the morning was.  After I describe the day you will probably think I am crazy for thinking it was a fabulous day, but it was.  We did 84 miles with 1,630 meters of climbing.  It started out by cycling along Lake Malawi and the beautiful scenery.  Last night Mother Nature showed off her awesome power.  The night was still, hot and extremely humid.  The air was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.  This humidity fueled a perfect thunderstorm.  About 10:30 all hell broke loose.  The wind went from dead calm to gale force in a matter of minutes.  Lightening lit up the camp like it was mid day.  Thunder rattled the windows like a cannon firing.  Then the rain came...  it rained so hard that it came down in buckets.  The storm came and went within a half hour.  A very impressive showing for Mother Nature.  I mentioned this because all that rain caused swollen rivers and huge waterfalls to be seen from the valley floor where we were riding.  It added an excellent element to an already unbelievable scenery.  

The country of Malawi has added a new version from the countries we have traveled so far.  Now the forests have taken on a more tropical feel.  They are now transitioning into a jungle look.  The humidity of the air makes it feel more  tropical.  

After traveling along the lake, the climbing began.  For 10 kilometers we climbed grades of 13+.  Then we rode 100+ kilometers with a constant 2-3 percent grade. There were a couple of short descents to break up the climbing but it was mostly climb the whole way.  

With about 20 miles left to go, Mother Nature again wanted to show off.  She found the on switch to her headwind machine.  And boy did she turn it on...  So we had constant climbing and headwinds.

I was just glad that I had been riding hard to get a good portion of the day behind me.  I coasted into camp with that fully used feeling.  Used up but a good day!  :) 

Sun rise scene over Lake Malawi.

Monkey watching my progress up a 13 percent grade.  I think he was very intrigued as to why someone would want to do that to themselves.