April 21st.

With such a big group, it is common not to find out about everything. I only found out today, that 2 days ago, Andra and Caroline were surrounded by wild dogs. These were not seen in Botswana much till recently. A car came through, splitting up the pack and enabling the girls to sprint away. In another incident, a group of the riders saw a group of baboons crossing the road ahead of them. The dominant male stopped, bared his teeth and let out a loud bellow. Rod, with his typical wit, shouted to it: “Take the women!”.

I felt much better today. The pre-lunch passed pleasantly, chatting to Jim. He is a lawyer from Portland, Ohio who loves his biking. For the second two-thirds of the day, I was grateful to Vic and Gerry for letting me draft behind them. Like most riders, we stopped at the Planet Baobab for a drink. This lodge, set 1.5 kms. from the road, is a comfortable spot to take coffee and chocolate cake – hard luck on those who arrived later to find none left!

I have enjoyed the ride today for the cycling, with a return of strength. Up till now, I have been wrong in thinking that tensions might appear in the last month. On the contrary, there is more open fun, teasing and good humour. Certainly, many will be looking forward to trips to the Okavango Delta on the rest day, the day after tomorrow. There is also a growing realisation that we are getting nearer to Cape Town. I cannot think of any rider who does not relish the thought. Long ago, we accepted that we were going to suffer, but a great weariness has set in. The long rides through unchanging scenery emphasises this. Yet we are cycling between the Okavango Delta ( to our north west) and the Makgadikgadi salt pans ( to our east) that are the biggest in the world.

Dist.: 187 kms. Av.speed: 30 kph Time cycling: 6 hrs. 14mins.

Going to Maun. April 22nd.

On these long, flat roads, riders are tending to group up again. Ten of us in two lines of five kept up a good steady pace, rotating at the front every 10 mins. As we passed Reiner, we all sang Happy Birthday to him- he is 69 today. This evening, he bought drinks for everyone. In the afternoon, I chose to go slower and use it as a recovery ride.

Dist.:139 kms Av.speed:30 kph Time cycling: 4hrs. 39 mins.

Rest day in Maun. April 23rd.

Torrential rain set in last night. I was glorying in the dryness of my tent. I stretched out my arms to the side in satisfaction and…what is that, it feels wet!? Right enough, water covered the floor, not from the rain, but from my camelback. The tube end had come off and the water drained out. Some, like myself, chose to do their laundry before breakfast. Others went into the hotel, in whose grounds we are camping, for a reasonably priced breakfast buffet. When I went in after finishing my washing, a large number of riders had been and gone, eating everything like locusts. The waitress indicated the various bowls to me: “We have eggs, bacon, beans, sausages…” “Hold on”, I said, “they are all empty!” “The chef is doing more”,she smiled. Behind the counter, a young man was bent over a frying-pan cooking two eggs. Africa does force patience on you.

Some riders have paid US$120 each to fly for an hour over the Delta. others $280, which includes a trip in a canoe into the Delta. With so much water about, the animals and birds are dispersed over a larger area and viewing may have been a little disappointing. Tomorrow we start the five days, covering 800 kms., that will take us into Windhoek. There is some slight excitement now, knowing we are getting closer. Dare we start dreaming yet? Certainly, everybody is trying hard to get some weight back on. The growing availability of fast food outlets on rest days helps. Milk shakes, full-fat milks and burgers are all in demand.

24th April. Last Bush Camp!

The roads are good, they are flat and there is hardly any traffic. Everyone seems revived by the rest day and ready to give it some wellie. My bugs have gone and I feel in good shape. At the lunch stop, an English lad on an overladen bike pops in. He started cycling from UK last October, down to Gibraltar. He SWAM across to Africa, then cycled down the west coast, on his way to S. Africa to watch the World Cup and do an ultra triathlon. As Stuart, our current race leader, said: “That kinda puts us in our place, don’t it?”

All along the highway, bullocks graze on the long grass. They look so healthy and well-fed.

For over a week, I have slept very badly due to the disintegration of my thermorest mattress. It transpires that Jim has a “cot” (like a camp bed) that he does not use. He has offered it to me. So today, the ride done, I had cleaned myself, allowed the tent to put itself up (!) and put the cot together, a few minutes work. As I crawled onto the cot, a storm was breaking. I lay there, more comfortable than I have been for a long while, and just listened to Nature’s bad temper. All I lacked was my slippers and a packet of licorice allsorts.

The Decathlon.

Dave Arman and Sunil have devised a competition for teams of three to test their relative speeds over 10 days, with various “challenges”. This afternoon, the first event was held. One of each team had to dig a hole big enough for a washing-basin. This was conducted in the pouring rain and created some hilarity. Gabrielle, our Italian rider, supervised our dinner tonight; he made a mushroom risotto with lamb sausages.

Distance: 160 kms Av. speed: 30.8 kph Time cycling: % hrs. 8 mins.

25th April

Although the rain stopped while we had dinner last night, it came back with a vengeance at 8pm and continued till early morning. Some riders had been up, building moats around the tents; Simon had given up and got in the truck. Simon is one of the stronger riders. He is of British stock but lives in Johannesburg. He has not felt well for a long time, going back to when he received various spider bites one night in his tent, around his feet and ankles. The bites caused inflammation, pain and became very infected, despite treatment. He has not felt like riding, but he is in the race and also wants to maintain his EFI status. I saw his bites yesterday; he said they were much better, but the centres of the bites were still yellow with pus, about the size of marbles.

The sky was heavily clouded over this morning, creating a cold-feeling day, and continued so for the rest of the day. I prefer this to the sun for long rides, but it has come as a surprise. We are skirting the edge of the Kalahari Desert and were more concerned about high day-time temperatures.

The second event of the decathlon was an obstacle course, some on bike, some on foot and, funniest of all, pushing a single bicycle wheel along. After the boring ride, this was a wonderful antidote, competitive but great fun. Tomorrow we have the prospect of more of the same, but longer- in fact tomorrow we cover more kilometres than on any single day in the Tour. But I don’t think anybody is fazed by that; it is just another couple of hours more than yesterday.

Distance 143 kms Av.speed: 28 kph Time cycling: 5 hrs 4 mins..

April 26 To Namibia

I awoke at 5.45, 45 mins. late. Breakfast has started. A heavy storm during the night had turned to just rain. As quickly as ever I could, I stuffed everything in my holdall, dismantled my cot, and threw them outside, to take the tent down. Loading my bike bag for the day, I could not put my hands on my passport, which we would need to cross the border. I emptied my bag three times in the rain, each time more desperate, thinking i might have to cycle without breakfast. I found it and dashed to put my bags in my locker in the dinner truck and my tent in a cubby hole in the lunch truck. I got my breakfast.

It was still only half-light as we were setting off. I teamed up with Peter and David, keeping up a good pace to the lunch stop. It was a joy to see the signs for Namibia and South Africa. Lunch was at 80 kms. It looked like it might clear up, but in fact storms stayed around. There were cloudbursts. Near the border post, some got caught in a bad downpour that included hail. Passing through customs quite easily, a few hundred metres saw us to our campsite. The grass is saturated in most parts, whilst the paths are mud and water. I found a relatively dry spot. No sooner was I in the tent than the heavens opened again. Our clothes are generally wet or damp and beginning to smell. There is nothing we can do about it. But on the plus side, our dinner tonight was a big barbecue steak with pasta and pumpkin, together with some very tasty herb-filled, garlic bread!  There is also a store at the entrance to the camp. Viv and Gerry had bought a good bottle of wine which they shared with me. I had forgotten how good it can be. After dinner, I went along and bought chocolates, licorice and jelly tots. So, as I write this, with the thunder rolling and the rain hammering down, I am having a great nosh by myself. There is plenty to celebrate tonight: our longest distance, done; only one more capital city before Cape Town; only one more border post; only two nights before we have a great send-off for Viv and Gerry at Joe’s Steakhouse in Windhoek….and the jelly tots are really good!

We may remember Botswana more for it’s storm than anything else. But I have been most surprised by how few people we have seen. Hardly any villages are apparent either. There has just been hundreds of miles of flat bushland. As a result, you do not look for anything. So most of us missed seeing the herd of wildebeest quite near the road today.

Dist.:209 kms. Av. speed: 27.5 kph Time cycling: 7 hrs. 40 mins.

April 27

First day in Namibia. The rain had stopped, leaving us to pick our way through the quagmire to get our breakfast. The sky looked heavy. The endless bush ahead of us was shrouded in mist, apart from the south-eastern edge of the sky which was trimmed with rose-pink edging. All morning, the sun tried to suck out the mist, sometimes piercing it but no more. The result was a stalemate; no sun, no mist, just heavy cloud. There was no sign of anybody or any habitation until we passed through the very pleasant town of Gobobis, the meat capital of Namibia, at about 120 kms. From here, it became apparent that we had left the storms behind and the sky started clearing. With so much wet clothing to dry and air, it was worth the effort to push a little harder into the headwind and get to camp as early as possible. Camp was supposed to be at Ziegy’s camp-site, but it has closed down, so we are in the bush again.

Decathlon: another two rounds took place before dinner. One, timing how long it takes for the contestant to finish a PVM bar. Simple, even stupid, you might say, but surprisingly good fun. Dinner tonight was really good: pork chop, potatoes and beans, with pitta bread and dips. Bill, to celebrate his 71st birthday, bought in enough beer for everybody. To top all that, Viv and Gerry had made the most delicious dessert: a chocolate, biscuit and ginger pudding, topped with caramelised oranges. It was my turn to help with the dishes tonight, but who cares after such a meal. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day. The first 20 kms. will be a team trial race. We are split into groups of six, at random. The third person in each group will be timed, the fastest winning. In our group we have three very fast riders: Franz, Andrew (a sectional rider) and Eric Defour. Our plan is start off as six, but very quickly those three will be pulling away, as they are capable of maintaining 40 plus over that distance. The three of us left will work together, just in case there is a mechanical failure amongst our leaders. After that we continue into Windhoek.

dist.:164 kms. Av.speed: 24 kph Time cycling:6 hrs. 50 mins.

April 28th. To Windhoek.

At 6am., we left every 2 mins. in groups of six. We had decided to let our best three go ahead and we, Lynn, Rick and I, would work together as a second group. There was a light headwind and a slight rise to the road, so times were not super-fast. Our first three went off like rockets, and did the 20 kms. in 35 mins. We passed other riders but we came in 8 mins. after our first three. It was great fun, more so as a couple of groups stayed together, riding as a six. Lani, not the fastest, despite having proven great endurance, was kept in her group and, literally, pushed to the front as they headed to the finishing line.( I have just this minute been told that we won the time trial!)

Today was not a race day, so racers mixed with non-racers. Unfortunately, there were strong 45 degree headwinds that made this one tough day. As in Botswana, a 25m. width either side of the straight road is kept mostly free of scrub, leaving the grass to grow tall. The golden colour made me imagine I was cycling through an endless, East Anglian cornfield. Unlike Botswana, small hills popped up in the distance like pimples .

The approach to Windhoek took us parallel with a small mountain range, brown to almost mauve, and eventually, after hill upon hill, gave us a great descent. Somewhere on that descent I lost my cycling computer. It had broken in Sudan, but I have managed to hold it together with duck tape till now. Just as we entered the city, there was a good bike shop, where many riders were calling in to get problems solved. (American) Dan, for instance, has had nearly 20 spokes break. Chris, the mechanic, rebuilt the wheel, but they kept breaking. (Someone voted him “the riders’ spokesperson”! ) He has been wobbling along like a duck. Anyway, I got a new computer put on within minutes.

Windhoek is very pleasant, we feel. It is a chilled-out place, with plenty of greenery amongst the well-spaced houses. But by the time we arrived and got set up and washed, there was no time for a nap. Almost all of us joined Viv and Gerry at the zany restaurant, Joe’s Steakhouse. With game meat on the menu, many of us were trying gazelle, oryx, zebra or kudu for the first time. Like many others, I had not the energy to finish my meal and was asleep in bed by 9.

April 29th.

Today, apart from washing and changing our tyres back to “fatties”, we are in the mall, eating, having a haircut, stocking up on goodies and hitting the internet. Tomorrow, we hit the dirt again. We have been promised more loose sand and rough corrugation, stuff of nightmares that I had thought was behind us, expecting just hard, packed dirt. There is still some hard riding ahead. But as Jason said this morning, we have proved to ourselves that we can survive any of the days, so we have nothing to fear.

Best wishes,

Eric