Tuesday 25 February 2014

Evaluating Ethiopia

Staying in Yabello, with two riding days left before we reach the Kenyan border, it is time to evaluate our stay in Ethiopia. With more than 2000 km cycled in this country, we have seen a lot; landscapes ranging from mountains to savannah, temperatures from 0°C to 45°C, road surface ranging from perfect tarmac to the worst dirt roads ever seen. Most striking though was the population density and composition: with nearly half of the population being below 18 years, for nearly a month we have heard the constant yelling of kids: "youyouyou", "moneymoneymoney", "where are you go?", for hours on end.

It wasn't an easy ride with a lot of time spent at an altitude above 2000 m.a.s.l., riding up to 3250 m.a.s.l., and up to 2600m of climbing per day, but it was good. A lot of climbing and dirt roads, exactly to my liking. I managed to secure my second section win, beating the guys for this section! Also, I managed to tie the women's record of the time trial riding up the Blue Nile Gorge (20 km, paved, 1400m climbing in 1hr42), more on that time trial here. Of course it was helpful that I got sick the night before and spent most of it in the toilet tent, losing an estimated 3 kg. Every kg counts when climbing!

Two days to the border from here, I am excited to enter East Africa. Five riding days to our next rest day in Marsabit. As the safety situation in northern Kenya (bandits and tribal clashes) changes by the day, it will be decided over the next two days whether we can ride all of it, or need a transfer through certain regions.

Internet access is limited here and does not allow uploading pictures. As soon as I have better internet access, I will upload them, but that may take until Nairobi...

Thursday 13 February 2014

Lost

As my blog post got lost somewhere in the galaxy between writing, bad internet connection and uploading, only some pictures for now, of the churches of Lalibella, receiving an Ethiopian orthodox blessing to speed up healing process of the wound, biting the dust of the truck overtaking me, the resulting healing wound, returning to the Blue Nile, switchbacks, a good team and a fully loaded truck on a tough day.

More info on the race results on the TdA website and a blog entry on the most recent mandatory race day.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Altitude training

What a ride... three days from Gondar to Axum, ca 1800 meters of climbing per day, a total of 350 km, half of it being very bad dirt roads. My heart went out to the people on cyclecross bikes... without the front suspension and the low tyre pressure that made it bearable for me! Still, the arms are must as sore as the legs, and more to come, the way to Lalibella will be 4 days, with lots of climbing and dirt roads.

Ethiopia is very, very beautiful. Ethippian kids have however proven a challenge. With a birth rate of nearly six live births per woman, there are a lot of them! When they see you coming, they start with a slight agressive "youyouyou", followed by a more agressive "moneymoneymoney", and if your reaction is not satisfying them -which it never is- this is followed by stones thrown at you. Luckily they are pretty bad at actually hitting you. As one of the first riders, it is not that bad, the slower people at the back have a much harder time. The past few days have been less bad, so we hope for the best!

In between of cycling, there has been some time for sightseeing, getting my hair cut at the Georgeous Hairdresser in Axum, eating a lot of good food and drinking a lot of fresh fruit juices, and cleaning and maintaining my bike. I could get used to this way of living...