We're Off

 14 Jan

Breakfast conversation:

“Does anybody know how long the first day’s ride is going to be?”

“163 kms.”

What!

I have never ridden that much in my life.

Its 90 miles actually.

How much is a mile?

But Egypt is flat right?

15 Jan

Yipee. I got my luggage through the 'weighbridge' (a bathroom scale by the way) and stuffed it into its new cramped home. Once I was in Cairo it was so much easier to leave stuff behind. We were all quite relieved when that step was behind us.

Now everybody is off to sleep early as tomorrow will start at dawn with a police escort to the pyramids for official start ceremony - watch out for it in the news. (Egypt Times online maybe?)

16 Jan

132 down - 12575 to go (not sure if that's right). I'm too tired too think).

Started with official opening @ the pyramids this morning. Sqeeky my noisy little rubber dog caught lots of media attention. Check out the pics on the website, I'm sure he is there.

The stretch of Egypt we are travelling through is easy to describe: a fairly flat road and lots of sand left and right of it - that's where we camp at the moment

17 Jan

Egypt has got a treadmill. A big one. They call it highway here. It has sand to both sides and a band of concrete in the middle. If you ride your bike on it you don't move. If you stop pedaling the head wind blows you back up the hill.

Gee, they don't ease us into this. Today’s ride was supposed to be 168 kms. The wind was so bad that we sometimes cycled down hill @ 7 km/h. And now it is raining - in Egypt!