Jan 20th.

From Safaga, we gradually ascended into the barren mountains. Over the first 40 kms. we reached 960 m altitude- nothing special but the headwinds slowly came back to haunt us. Because of my backache, I decided to take it easy. For the first 30 kms., I chatted with Dave Arman, a smashing New Yorker who works as a bike messenger.  By the time I reached the lunch stop at 70kms., I felt hungry and very cold.  The landscape which in the first hour looked striking, soon became desolate and monotonous. All that had changed was my perception.

Example of route directions given to us the night before

I cycled the rest of the day on my own. One of the riders measured that his heartbeat dropped 20 beats when he had riders in front of him as opposed to ploughing his own way. but it seems to work better for me. I found myself trying to imagine the pharaonic armies crossing these lands to liven it up; it helped for a while, but in the last 20 kms.,  all I could think of was the soup awaiting us in camp! We are burning 6500-7000 calories a day, so food is a huge factor.
I reached camp at about 3.15. I had difficulty bending and walking due to stiffness in the back. First priority was 3 bowls of soup- I really need a bigger bowl and a bigger spoon.  Little things that assume great importance!

Kids crowding around at the lunch stop

About 15 riders travelled in the truck at some stage today, mainly due to the headwind or knee problems.
I did no work on the bike this night as I fell asleep in my tent, only to be woken at 6pm by the call for the riders’ meeting.
Some impressive resolve is already being shown by many of the riders, Catherine only arrived in camp at 6 and still had to put her tent up. Paddy has a badly swollen knee, but kept going. They do not want to lose their EFI status.
Jan 21st.
Another very cold morning. I decided to ditch the camelback in the hope that it alleviated the back pain. Doing some back stretches put me a few minutes late setting off, so it was a little exhilarating speeding past the slower riders on the descent into Qena.What a joy to see trees lining the street, even the odd bouganvillea, and people picking their way through the myriad forms of transport. Now we were following a wide canal. Eyes used to the desert glare could relax on the greenery of the carefully-cultivated fields.
But it was essential not to take eyes off the road. Coming into one minor intersection, where the traffic waited for me to pass, a 3-wheeled vehicle suddenly was heading straight for me;  if I had braked we would have collided.  I spurted, enough to miss him, and moved on.

Fisherman dragging in nets on the canal, heading for Luxor.

Following the signs for Luxor now, one hand would be on the handlebars, the other waving the to the interminable groups of kids, hollering from sometimes a long way away. Some kids held out their hands for a high five. One youth held out a big stick and hit me on the arm. Other riders had sticks thrown at them.
With little wind, we all made the 90 kms. to Luxor in good time. Our camp, Reizieky Camp, is a compound alongside a hotel. Some riders chose to spend 40 US$ for a room. I preferred to spend a little on laundry and a massage.
Mr.Reizicky is a lovely Egyptian gentleman. When asked if he did food, he assured me of the finest Egyptian fresh food for 50 Egyptian pounds, about 10$- if I did not like it, I needn’t pay. But he took the money first!!  It was a monster meal, absolutely tastebud-tickling tucker! It was another hour before I needed a bar of chocolate.

In Luxor. Riezicky Camp.

96kms Average speed 28.3kph
How it all works
There are 2 trucks, a dinner truck and a lunch truck. Straight after breakfast, the lunch truck makes for about halfway and sets up a trestle with pitta bread, various fillings, and containers of carbohydtrate drinks.The dinner truck heads for the finish to make soup and prepare the dinner.Meanwhile the lunch truck follows the last riders to camp, picking up anybody that is not going to make it before dark..
www.tourdafrique.com
The TDA team keep up a blog on this site. Below is info on how to (easily) join their Twitter site to see their frequent comments.  Where you can’t see the writing because of flash glare, it says ‘theresa@tourdafrique.com’, and below in green it says that you should identify yourself in the email you send her.

How to access the Twitter for TDA

Sorry to be long-winded but I don’t expect to find internet access easy for a while. So I have skipped the sight-seeing to write up.

I have been able to view comments made on the blog and I am very grateful for your encouraging support!

Best wishes,
Eric.