Blog | A bicycle ride across Africa | with Tour D'Afrique 2013

Home→Blog - Page 6 << 1 2 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 16 17 >>

Day 54, 125km to Biti Manyanga

Posted on March 21, 2013 by mev

Rain! Last night it rained for solid 12 hours. For a brief period around 4am or 5am the rain stopped and I was hopeful it might dry up. Alas, by breakfast a light shower had started again.

I got my bike together and was one of the first on the road by 7am. I took it slow and cautious trying to pick my path on hard packed bits and avoid sliding sideways and keeping out of the puddles. On the ascents this wasn’t too bad, but on descents I was particularly careful. As a result most riders passed me.

The rain continued and at 19km I walked a short stretch of hill under rain while heard the truck come past. Decided to take it as an excuse to make a rain day today. There were three already on the dinner truck and by time we arrived in camp there would be eleven as others had similar idea. It did look like eventually after lunch the sun did come out and it dried up more. I know 125km of off-road would have been challenging without rain, so was happy to have taken an easier ride today. Below a few photos taken along the way
Bikes out at lunch, mud everywhere.

Back in camp, enterprising teens set up to wash bicycles for 1000 shillings (60 cents); many riders took them up on the offer.

Hats off to those who cycled all day. Here is James with big grin on his face as he arrives at camp.

Taking photos of the kids would collect a big crowd when you showed them the resultant photos.

Day 53, 113km to soccer field camp

Posted on March 20, 2013 by mev

Today was a challenging but fun ride. It was all off-road but with a variety of terrain. It rained last night but stayed mostly dry during the day with only a few light drops of rain as we left. The first 10km weren’t too difficult though you needed to pick your way past the puddles.

At 12km we came across some thick mud. They had graded soft loose dirt on top of the road not long before the rains. This had developed a thick pasty mud that got up everywhere in the bikes. Those with fenders had it worst as those completely stopped up, but even other bikes had brakes and derailleurs all stuck. I and most people walked through this stretch – not quite certain how long it might be.

Adding to the challenge were stuck vehicles. Photos below show a truck that slid sideways before getting stuck and then a bus that had also gotten stuck. As cyclists we could walk/slide through the worst muck, but TDA trucks had to get past these stuck vehicles as well. Reports were this took a few hours for the big truck. All reports were also to skill of our truck drivers in carefully navigating this obstacle.

Enterprising locals were selling cokes near the stuck bus as we came past. The price had nearly tripled from normal though. I was thinking, “at least the bus got this far – so perhaps the road will be better later”. My thoughts turned out to be correct and not too much after the bus, we had some fairly smooth road and much quicker cycling. Hooray!
After lunch we had varied terrain with some low hills to climb over. The track was generally narrow and as photo of Anne below shows fairly direct cycling over the hills.

It was a longer ride and I was happy to see camp appear at 113km. Below shows some of the welcoming committee we found at camp. We have rain showers again tonight, will see what tomorrow brings.

Day 52, 104km to game post #1

Posted on March 19, 2013 by mev

Rain last night and rain this afternoon as I write this entry. Hence the road was wet with puddles as we started off road. However, the road conditions were still reasonable and this was easier off road than we’ve had before.
Today the ride had two distinct parts. The first 61km was mostly flat and on the main road. It was paved. It was fast riding, though there were also a reasonable number of trucks coming past. By 10:30am I was at the turnoff in photo below and at lunch.

There is a fair amount of vegetation here and overall lush compared with further north. Also see crops including corn, sunflowers and others. There were a few villages we crossed and in Tanzania they put a set of four speed bumps very close together on the road entering and leaving the villages.

At 61km the road changed to dirt. There were still puddles on the road but not too difficult to find a path to ride. At 85km was Itigi village as well as a coke stop. Below Naomi, Diederick and I stopped in the village.

After this, the sun even came out for a while. This was good for drying off the tent when set up. All was dry not too long before we got afternoon rains. Below shows a local on their bike.

Sheltering from the rain.

Day 51, 119km to Puma Camp

Posted on March 18, 2013 by mev

Beautiful! Today was a scenic ride with wide open views. I particularly enjoyed the morning with corn and sunflower fields and views of the valley below.

Careful leaving camp as there were many thorns. Have “goat heads” in Tanzania too. Cycled through Katesh and mostly downhill for the first 10km. After this a big hill that was slow to climb but at the top some great views of overall countryside. We could see back to Katesh and the mountain behind it. Photos below show Francine, Omar and Chris as they came past.

Fields of sunflowers and corn. Once on the ridge, we had mixture of descent and ascent with good views throughout. We came past half a dozen villages and locals were friendly but not too pushy. It was great ride to lunch at 69km.

After lunch some more rolling hills and a roundabout at 77km. We gradually came to the larger town of Singida with a big descent at 86km and then some roads that kept us from going right through middle of the city. It got a bit warm and had one coke stop before leaving the city.
By 100km I was back to rolling hills and larger road heading south out of town. We came past some very interesting rock formations and then last few km before finding our way to camp. In the evening we had rain showers come through. Tomorrow we start off road, so will see how much rain we get there.

; camp

Day 50, 94km to Katesh

Posted on March 17, 2013 by mev

A shorter ride but with 1400m of climbing. We also replaced the normal “camp to camp” race with a time trial in the morning across some of the hills. This area is becoming more lush with healthy looking crops. Morning buzz was that in the night one of our toilet tents had been stolen. This despite local security at Magugu. Need to keep a careful eye on things here.

Today we cycled 25km before starting the race. The road started climbing even before and was surprised at how much climbing compard with previous day. I came to time trial started after most had started and took it fairly slow both up and down the hills. Just put in low gear and climb. By 40km, we reached top of the climbs and had some descents before finishing time trial at 50km.

This area had many fields of sunflowers. It became overcast in afternoon but stayed dry.

Most of our climbing had been in morning, so afternoon had fewer climbs or descents. Made a stop in a village at 75km and then cycled to camp at 95km. We were camped near a hotel with drinks and chance to celebrate St Patricks day. Some local riders also came up with photo scavenger challenge to see who could get particular photos. Four teams participated.

Evening rider meeting with Ciaran explaining the ride ahead.

Day 49, 145km to Magugu

Posted on March 16, 2013 by mev

Today we started the first of eight cycling days from Arush to Mbeya. Some of those days will be off-road but today was paved with exception of short stretch of road construction. We are now up to 65 riders with 19 new additions between Arusha and Nairobi. Lots of enthusiasm and sets a different tone. Still learning names.

Packed my belongings and set off early today. It was humid and overcast to start and looked like chance of rain. However, stayed dry all day and got warm in the afternoon. The first 7km were through busy Arusha including local speed bumps and traffic to watch but once we passed the airport we were back in countryside. There were some rolling hills but not much climbing overall today.

At 40km we came to construction zone and were fortunate to ride on the not yet completed road while other traffic was on construction roads. This worked well except for short stretch with new soft dirt that hadn’t yet been compacted. However, construction only for 14km and then normal road. Many safari vehicles came past. We could see Masai living in area and some tending of goats and cattle.
Lunch was at 79km following rougher road. Just past was village with the market seen below and turnoff that much of the traffic left us to Ngorogogo. Nice to recognize the area.

After this the we had some tailwinds and mostly flat roads, though warmer temperatures. At 102km passed Tarangire turnoff (been there too!) and coke stop. The last 43km weren’t too bad and made it to camp in mid-afternoon. There were many locals here to watch the bike shop and our other moves at camp.

; bike shop

Arusha rest days and safari

Posted on March 15, 2013 by mev

Had a fun safari on our three rest days. Tomorrow back on the bikes with eight days of cycling to Mbeya, much of it off road. Rainy season has started with occasional downpours. There could be some mud. The photos below are some of my favorite photos taken on safari

Zebras at Manyara park

Alex discovers to turn off flash before photographing baboons

In the morning an elephant came and visited the water tank

Ostrich

Hippos out of the water

Hippos in the pond

Zebras

Lions, all of them we saw were in deep slumber like this

Hyena beside the road

Ali, Lizzie and Lindsey show how the safari vehicle works, looking out the top

Wildebeest

Little wildebeest

Ngorogoro crater showing plains with many animals

Going on safari is hard work

Elephant parade

Giraffe

Giraffes

; giraffes

This elephant trumpeted loudly as we startled it

Martin shows a large tortise

Mid day and time for elephants to take break in the shade

Impala

; impala

Day 48, 118km to Arusha

Posted on March 12, 2013 by mev

Welcome to Tanzania! Today we crossed the border to our 5th country. These border crossings are getting easier.
Humidity was high, but we didn’t get rain overnight. It may be start of the rainy season which could get interesting for upcoming off-road sections. It was only 4km from camp to the border. Filled out my yellow form to exit Kenya and my blue form to enter Tanzania. Got the requisite stamps and payed $100 visa fee and I was done. I also exchanged shillings (Kenya) for shillings (Tanzania). This task took perhaps an extra hour but then I was back on smooth roads going into Tanzania. We had some gentle grades and wide sweeping views.

Stopped at 30km with a few others at local village, partially to see new rate of what a drink costs.

It got warmer after this and at 60km we had some climbs. The climb continued through lunch at 71km and then came to top of the hill at 81km. Here we had slight downhill before descending into Arusha around 108km. Arusha is larger sprawling city and we went through town for 10km or so.
Five of us are signed up for a safari tour for next three days. I don’t have cell coverage yet, so may be a while before everything is posted.

Day 47, 156km to Namanga

Posted on March 11, 2013 by mev

Today was a fun, though long ride. The first 60km different from the remaining 100km. We started from camp on smaller roads and heading “outbound” from Nairobi. Rows of cars backed up the other way heading into the city and not leaving much passing room on the narrow road. By 5km there came some breaks in traffic and we then came through populated areas until 18km where we had a turnoff onto quieter rural road.

The pavement started ok, but became rougher as we rode along. At 42km the pavement disappeared entirely for next 6km of gravel. After this smooth roads until we met up with main highway at 55km.

The remaining road to Namanga was very good surface and reasonably wide. The shoulders weren’t very rideable, but traffic gave us some room. The grades were rolling. Stopped for lunch at 70km and then back on this road past a few villages including one at 120km where locals had mixture of traditional Masai tribal dress and western locos (e.g. Houston Astros).

The last 40km was straightforward ride into camp. The road was wet and it had rained recently. I missed the rain, though those slightly faster got hit with deluge of rain. Those even faster got the rain while in camp. A tougher day but enjoyed the riding today.

Rest day in Nairobi

Posted on March 10, 2013 by mev

Quiet rest day in Nairobi. Only one cycling day since our four days off in Nanyuki and just two cycling days until Arusha so mid trip slowdown of sorts. We do have ~20 new riders joining here so also fun.

Otherwise there is a mall not far from camp. Has a huge department store as well as food court with wifi. Also a Kentucky Fried Chicken. As big a place as we’ve seen in past few months.