BACK ON THE BIKE (18 Febr)

So started cycling officially again on Thursday 18 Feb, which was the day of the famous or infamous Blue Nile George. The total distance was about 90km, with lunch at 50 km. You then descend 1800m over 20km and then have to climb that again over 20km, about a 6% gradient, which for your non-cyclist is bloody steep. I am glad to report that I did it, not quite sure how and there were quite a few stops on the way up but no pushing. So although it seems I lost a few marbles as a result of the concussion it seems my cycling legs are still working, although I am now of the last riders. I was of the bike for almost 2 weeks while the other riders just got stronger.

Was completely exhausted the next morning and cycled very slowly with Gerald as he was also battling. It was another tough day of the 90km and we reached the highest point of the tour of +- 3150m. Cycling at that altitude is energy sapping like you can not believe but we managed it somehow, at least the last 20km was mostly downhill.

Cycling in Ethiopia is quite a challenge. There are the hills & altitude, kids throwing you with stones, it seems it is their national sport. Some riders have been hit by 12 stones a day. I have had 4 in 2 days riding. The famous Ethiopian belly is the next challenge, I have luckily avoided it so far. Camping at night you are surrounded by kids begging etc. Of my original cycling buddies only Gerald is still going. Jim was transferred to Addis with a suspected pinch nerve Thursday night. I think the EFI riders are down to 10 or 11. The scenery however makes up for it, it is quite spectacular. The people are however very poor and it is quite sad to see all the kids herding cattle and goats and not being in school. So far not much traffic on the roads and the drivers much better than Sudan as there are many wandering animals & children on the roads. Hope it stay this way. The infrastructure is pretty poor, cellphone reception is almost impossible up to now, not even roaming on SA sim card works. I bought a local sim card for which you must supply 2 photos in Addis but has run out of airtime but has been unable to buy any airtime at the last 3 towns we went through.

Losing my EFI status as a result of the crash was nogal a gatslag but also decided that I am going to make most of the cycling and sightseeing from now on. If you focus on EFI all you do is cycle, clean bike, rest and cycle again. Most of the time you are too exhausted to do any exploring. We arrived yesterday in small village called Debre Libanos which has a famous monastry and situated on the most spectacular George. Discovered a small lodge on the edge of the George. The group left this morning for Addis but I decided to stay another day as I had little local experience so far. So spend the day staring down this beautiful valley. The yanks say it looks just like the Grand Canoun.

Tomorrow is a rest day so I will be taking a local bus to Addis which will be an experience, the owner of the lodge say just stand next to the road and flag any bus down. So hopefully it is that simple. So I am still going to cycle as much as possible but if I came across spots like this I might stay a day or 2 and then catch up with the group again.