It was paved with some fairly good hills and of course a headwind. But it was paved! The ride today was through very remote desert/rock conditions with high mountains and plateaus like yesterday. I came across a rider from last years tour who ran out of water on the same road. He didn't say much as I don't think he faired well as a result. Here is a picture of him:
I was hoping for the SAG truck to come along with water so that I could avoid the same fate. Lucky for me, it did. :)
Saw a couple of interesting signs on the route today...
Oh and this sign was a prophesy of things to come. At the point where the sign was, I was already riding into a 15-20 mph headwind. So I thought I had already encountered what the sign was saying:
But Nooooo, the best was yet to come. Wind it said and wind is what it delivered. This was coming into a mountain pass. As I entered the mountain pass the wind came up in gusts hard and strong. I had to go down into the drops and try to make myself and the bike as aerodynamically flat as possible. If I sat up straight all progress ceased and I would be blown backwards. Heck, if I put up a sail it could have blown me back to Cairo.
Well tomorrow seems to be promising. Back to some pretty messy off road stuff. But we are going to be going to the Fish River Canyon. It is supposed to be the second biggest canyon next to the Great Canyon in the United States. Yes, yes, I know that it is the Grand Canyon but the tour person from South Africa called it the Great Canyon. :)
Mike, why am I thinking that your theme song at the moment is "Cheeseburger in Paradise". Now I have that song in your head, you can coast all the way to Cape Town on it... I continue to be so glad I am not on this ride. Kudos to you though. You are toughing it out and are getting near the end. I would have been curled up and crying long ago. Regards, Scott.
ReplyDeleteAnd you got real wind instead of the 15 to 20 miles per hour head wind.
ReplyDeleteHave a good time riding through the Fish River Canyon.
Ray Van Ostran