Khartoum, Sudan - January 30th

30th January already, I think we have been on the road 3 weeks now and it seems like longer.
This is going to be a long update as we hit the road toward Ethiopia tommorow and I have no idea on next chance to do so.

The crossing into Sudan is done by boat as all other borders are currently closed, its said in the next year or so there will be a road from Egypt to Sudan, but no joy so far. We boarded the boat after a convey ride of about 20kms over a couple of the big damn's (no photos alowed as its a terrorist target) which sparked a conversation on who owns the water in the Nile, according to one of the Egyption riders Ethiopia and Sudan are threatening to build damn's on the Nile to make use of the amazing resource, it could turn around their economy and obviously help these countries greatly. Egypt for obvious reasons having allready done so does not want this to happen and claims the water of the Nile as its own....fairly crap situation all round, but expect to hear more about that at some point in the next few years.

So we get on the boat which is surrounded by cargo at around 10am, (the boat itself is about the size of one that would normally be used for a harbour cruise in a more afluent city) then proceed to spend the rest of the day watching the entire cargo from the dock get loaded on piece by piece by 3 guys, this is loaded in and around anything and everyone, throughout the day people keep arriving and keep climbing on the boat, ive done some messed up journeys in my time but this was taking the biscuit by a long shot. The tactic became to find enough room on the deck to sit with your legs straight trying to hide from the sun (it was around 38 degrees) and guard it with your life, all the cabins where taken so the deck was also bed for the night. You think you have you little piece of heaven sorted and prayer time comes along, all the Islamics on board then hit the same area and will kick and move anything in their way to make space to pray (a cunning plan to get their own space I think) as the sun was going down we still had not left port and tensions where building. Toilets on board... lets not even go there. It was a stressful and frustrating night then finally on arrival the next morning when you have every possible sympathy for the various refugee stories you have heard you finaly arrive in the port of Wadi Halfa in Sudan. Not over yet, the cargo still has priority over the people, and the unloading begins, some of the egyptians are getting equaly frustrated at this point and any way of getting off is used, boxes passed over the side of the boat followed by people a few times, the toilets are fully overflowing by this point and I really dont need to get any more graphic on that.
We finally cleared customs not long before sunset and rode to our camp in town, almost everyone rode in complete silence and it had a very eerie feeling as we cruised the first few km's of Sudan.

Pretty much instantly we all took a liking to the Sudanese and the country, as much as I enjoyed Egypt, I realise now just how dirty it was but more than that how noisy and aggresive the Egyptians are in comparison. Instead of shouting horns, throwing rocks asking for money the Sudanese give a polite almost shy wave when you pass them, big smiles are standard ( I guess 60 whites dressed in lycra will draw a laugh in most western countries let alone in the desert.) and when trucks and cars pass they give you a warning toot before and usually a wave or thumbs up as they pass. (in Egypt the theory was definatly the louder the horn and the longer you use it shows that you have a large penis)

I have tried to learn a little more about the problems that Sudan is facing and while another civil war sounds iminant the people are reluctant to speak of what is going on. Religion as is often the case seems to be the prevailing problem though, we are only hitting the safer areas staying away from the south and west (Darfur) where the main problems are concentrated, but still it seems hard to beleive that such a peaceful and safe feeling place has to face what it does. As an example of the honesty I have not once had to barter for anything the price is the same for dumb tourists as it is for their best freinds, in one case a shopkeeper could not give me change as he had none so offered me twice the product for less than its value. A tuk tuk driver last night was willing to drive away without payment as we thought he was asking more than the rides value and was thanking us for being in his tuk tuk anyway (we paid). despite our stuff being left all over the place not one thing has gone missing in all the camps, lunch stops etc we have passed through.

As for the riding and terrain, it has been flat almost throughout, mixture of off road days (sand and rock) and butter smooth pavement. We passed through the Nubian desert which is very lunar and rocky, crossed the nile and into the Sahara where we have been riding the last few days. All in most days have been over 140 kms and the heat has been in the high 30's the whole time, its been fun but draining on everyone, todays rest day is well earned and i'm sad to admit that all I craved yesterday was air conditioning and western food.

Had a 20km time trial yesterday as part of the stage and I won by 5 seconds so I guess the legs are coming on now though I killed myself doing it and wont get accredited with it as staff cannot win anything! (it should also be noted that I only rode 80 of the 160kms the pervious day). There are 6 or so strong riders and another 6 or so who are getting stronger by the day, as the race progresses I think it will become very interesting. With regard to the rest of the group so far so good, and while its been hard it's not really been tough enough yet for the shit to really hit the fan and everyone is really suppotive of each other. A bug has been going through camp so getting woken up by someone puking each night is standard, still waiting my turn. I hit a light batch of Dioreah the same time as a small sand storm we had, made for one of the more interesting dumps of my life, again, no more detail needed.

I think we hit Ethiopia in about 4 days and it's going to be tough, i've been told to expect rocks thrown at me with surprising accuracy, some nasty illnesses going round, big days on the bike and mountains, apparently some of the hardest days of the tour are coming up so we will see the true character of the group.

Think thats probably enough for now, im going to try and link this to facebook as ive been told you can, not sure how yet. I welcome anyones comments, its cool to know that people are reading, leave a name somehow though so to quote vimpy the truck driver ' I can tell you exactly which way to fuck off"

photos will follow when I remember to bring the cable to plug into the computer...my bad.

Sudan - The Desert

Had a quick chat with Mark over messenger today to give him updates on BBB.

No time for him to post until he gets to Karthoum but expect stories about Stary Skies, drinking Tea and an apparently overdue usual Mark Episode - emergency "number twos"

Copied from Marks Tour D'Afrique blog post:


Today saw a different style of race and ride. In general, it has been a tough few days - all over 140km’s with the heat so all of us are getting a little run down. Add the bug that is passing through camp and the tour is slowly beating even the strongest down.

We had a 10km warm up followed by a 20km time trial in which racers and expedition riders where invited to partake for the chance to win a coveted yellow ‘stage win’ plate. The results will be up later but it goes without saying it hurt, it was hot and it made me want to puke before I finished.

This fun was followed by a 26km cruise to lunch and then a 36km convoy into Khartoum. The Sudanese Police were kind enough to escort us but insisted on blaring the lights and sirens the whole way. Add the fumes, people, donkeys, goats, dogs and the intensity of having to watch closely the rider in front so as not to take out 5-6 riders and it makes your blood boil.

I loved every minute of it, and don’t let any one else on the tour tell you any different, to do this ride, race, expedition or whatever you want to call it you have to be a bit twisted and basically enjoy a little suffering.

Sudan as you can probably gather from other posts has been a rare pleasure. I have not previously been lucky enough to travel through a country that rarely sees tourists. I heard from a guy that works in the Ministry of Tourism that less that a hundred US citizens apply for a visa into Sudan per year, I believe the population is 35 million, so that gives you an idea as to how rare we are in some of the villages and tea huts we’ve passed through. Ethiopia is getting closer and I know the general feeling is it can wait. As a nation the Sudanese have been gracious, hospitable, curious and more than anything else, happy.

Today also marks the end of the first section ‘Pharaoh's Delight’ and, unfortunately, means we will be losing two of our Lone Planet sectional riders, Scott and Sharif. You will be sorely missed!!

Rest day tomorrow. I think a sleep in till at least 8 am will be had all round.

Luxor - Egypt - January something, I think its a Friday

trough the first week and through most of Egypt already, have been averaging around 130kms a day, but have had huge tailwinds making it very fast, you can sit in a bunch at 45-50kmh some days, makes you feel like a bit of a hero.

The routine is starting to form and resembles wake at 5.20am, pack tent, drink tea, eat porridge, shit, climb on bike, ride 70kms till lunch, eat, pee, shit if you need to, ride 70kms till camp, set up, fix bikes, eat, pee go to bed...repeat. The simplicity of it is actually very relaxing, along with hard days of riding, I'm sleeping better than I have in years.

I sat eating dinner a couple of nights ago, and it wasn't till I'd almost finished that I considered what it was that was in front of me, (think it was beef, but choose not to ask) you sit on a camp stool and it is often dark by the time everything else is done so you don't always get to see what is in front of you. Food has been edible everyday, I don't envy the chef his job, there are only so many ways you ca present porridge before people are going to start getting pissed off, but everyone is fine so far.

The racing side has been fairly relaxed to begin with, but one of the older guys snuck out of lunch to try and use the tailwind to get a stage win, most people picked up on the fact and coupled with the fact he is one of the few dickheads anyway I think hell be getting a hard time from a few the next week or so.

We head into Sudan in a few days, and the road starts to go to crap so it should begin to get more interesting, the way they start the tour is clever to give people a fairly easy week to start getting the legs going, the most climbing in a day so far has only been about 800 metres, as soon as that changes so will the bunch sizes.

Egypt has been a friendly country, I expected it to be much harder work, the kids at the side of the road come out and wave. Almost every truck or car that passes beeps to say hello, thumbs up are given allot and toothless grins appear from most of the old men as you ride past. Camels, donkey's and horse's are used way more than I would have thought and much of the farming I passed yesterday was done by hand still (all the days leading up to yesterday where in the desert)

Work wise, my duties are pretty good, I get 2 breakfasts a week, where you get up at 5, help with breakfast then ride sweep for the morning, I'm then free to ride that afternoon as I wish on those days. One day web and waste, this entails riding the whole day how you want and writing about it to be uploaded by satellite for the tour d'afrique website but as it would be your best day you get the added bonus of waste. As the name would imply it involves dealing with 60 peoples waste - digging a shit pit and filling it in after, burning anything that can be burnt, burying the organic waste and giving anything reusable to the closest village. - Kinda strange day of highs and lows really.
I also get a day free to ride as I wish, and I have 2 days of timekeeping, where I have to time the race, I should get to ride these days in some shape or form, but not always the entire stage.
All in so far this week I rode all of the stages except one where I helped out another staff member who was sick, pretty happy with it really. In the evenings I have to fix what needs fixing, which has been a couple of hours most days so far, then I'm free to do whatever.

All that for ten dollars a day!

No phots right now as im in a dodgy cafe in Luxor, will try and get some up soon.

Cairo, January, not sure what day or date allready,

Feels like Ive been here a month already, the flight on new years is already becoming a distant memory. KLM did a surprisingly good job, sitting on planes is shit, there is no way around it. But if you do have to sit still for that long having a choice of 40+ movies games and other stuff that you can start and stop helps, so does having a hostess that doesn't look like your grans boot serving you, if they manage to look like they enjoy it too and give you free alcohol to the point where they start looking reasonably attractive then they're doing a good job in my books.

Despite all plans to head into Amsterdam on the way and take in the sights the thought of getting a few hours sleep prevailed and we checked into a Yotel, space capsule thing designed by the same guy who made the BA first class seats apparently. Lots of buttons and as such lots to go wrong, couldnt turn the lights off so after a brief condescending conversation with a bored staff member she eventually came to show me how to flick a switch, but alas i'm not that dumb and she looked like a dick for talking down to me, how can you over design something to the point that you cannot turn off the lights? Crap.

I had been psyching myself up for Cairo airport and expected to get mobbed but didnt even get offered a taxi, in fact Cairo in general has been a surprise. People are freindly and its safe pretty much everywhere I've been through so far, there are armed tourist police everywhere and most say hello and seem interested in you, made me very suspicious to begin with but I think it is genuine.

The roads are a different story. White lines are meant for going down the middle of the car, or to be driven through the gaps or some other rule im yet to understand. We rode 40km's through town to the Pyramids and back and it was like bunch racing with cars instead of riders to top that off you have people, horses, donkeys and carts, piss, shit, dogs, cats (alive and dead) and kids to avoid at the same time. Its like a game of frogger that will really hurt when you get it wrong.

Cairo is dirty, but you can tell that some good downpours of rain could change it drastically, i haven't really appreciated that the rain we get in B.C and the Uk actually does a good job of cleaning up too. Doesn't mean im missing it though.

Did the sights, pyramid, camel ride, museum etc, find it kinda wrong that these ancient kings built these great tombs for themselves and in the name of history that all gets pulled apart and put in museums showing the whole thing, mumified bodies in various states now in glass cases far from their choice of resting place - isnt there laws againts grave digging? Same thing in my book.

Have now moved to the Hotel that we are begining the tour from, met some of the riders and started fixing bikes - pretty interesting mix so far, one sweet Titanium cross bike, most in good shape or new, some not really up to the job, and one muppet who brought a beat up commuter that out of the box I had to spend a couple of hours on to get it to go in a straight line....stoked that ill be spending the next 4 months looking after it. You can't polish a turd.

internet has been a bit of a mission, typed an update for the blog twice and twice it dissapeared in front of my eyes, I know what my dad feels like now - hes pretty good at that.

we have another day of getting supplies and getting the trucks ready then we head out, sounds like the first few weeks are going to be hard organisationally then it settles down, all the guys who have done it before hate Egypt and cant wait to get on the boat to Sudan. Information is on a need to know basis at the moment, and I dont need to know - which is just fine with me. Its been a weird transition from it all being my stress to sitting back and saying ask someone else, Alex is laughing at me for wanting to get up every minute and sort stuff out, its a habit thats harder to break than you would think, but its not my stress so im trying to do what I need to and let the rest happen.

Staff dinner tonight and I think it will be a bit beer fueled, the guy in charge of the trucks clearly doesn't like that driving gets in the way of his drinking habit, he's done this more times than he can count and has opinions on everything, think he is gonna be alot of fun the whole way, in his own words, 'if we have a problem with any of his staff or him come and talk to him and he'll tell us exactly which way to fuck off.'

The tour website will be getting daily updates by sat phone so if your interested in whats going on more regularly than this read that at www.tourdafrique.com, I have to write an entry once a week so will be on there often enough.

Cairo, Eygypt 25 hours after landing

Jet lag is a bitch, or is it? its 5.30 am and im wide awake though i'll be getting up at this time for the next 4 months so maybe the whole jetlag thing is working in my favor for a change. The flight is what flights are though I can only say good things about the staff on KLM, not because they where hot for a change, but because they actually seemed to enjoy their job. The dutch are and always will be efficient and clean people, but the service was friendly and genuine - why is that missed so much elsewhere nowadays?

So to Cairo, from whta I had heard I was bracing myself from the moment we hit the ground - dirty, boisterous, hard work, rude, scary and numerous other words have been used to describe this place to me but we strolled out of the airport without being accosted once. This worked well to make me more suspicious so much so I figured they must have already robed us somewhere along the line and somehow they all knew.

Spent yesterday adjusting, quick walk along the Nile then building bikes with Alex much to the astonishment of the hotel staff, I think every guy in the place has come to see the bikes and they are all a bit confused by the whole thing. Explained the tour d'afrique, but as one of the men put it - I have had my car 12 months and I have done 8,000 kms why would you want to ride 12,000? they are again incredibly friendly still making me suspicious!

We headed out to hit the streets on the bikes and see if how the bikes are, why anyone bothers to paint white lines on the road here is beyond me, lane discipline is non existent, but the way the traffic flows is incredible, it seems so long as you are leaning on your horn your car is invincible and no one else matters, but they don't it all just flows along at a similar speed and get through the small gaps left by bad parking, random missing parts of road, people, horses, police (who just stand in the road at times) and anything else you can think of really. the way the traffic flows reminds me of a cycling bunch and how it moves around, get on the outside your ok, get stuck in the middle your going to the back quickly.

As for the cleanliness, sure Cairo is dirty and dusty, but it seems that a few good days rain would change this place drastically, something I think they have been waiting thousands of years for!