Mass Update

Another long boring ride on flat terrain. I’m actually in a coffee shop right now and trying to remember 2 rides ago is tough especially when it bleds together with the last 8 days or so. Lets see, there was a Wimpy’s at 110 kms and I had a choco milkshake. Maybe not the best choice for a mid ride snack, but it was so good and even if I felt sick the rest of the way it was worth it. The camp we were supposed to stay at had closed since last year so we were now staying 500 m up the road. It was basically a bush camp with some sketchy bathrooms. I expected them to stop flushing at any moment, but they made it through which was impressive.
We had 2 events in the decathalon the first was a soda chugging contest. I entered for my team and finished a can of Fanta in 12.4 seconds placing me fifth. I really think I won and the cell phone timing method was flawed but even with my written complaint the results are not being reviewed. The second event was the PVM (Energy Bar) eating contest. Jacob entered for our team and he came around the middle of the pack. It wasn’t a great day for our team (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) but I guess it could have been worse. Camp that night was nice, mostly because it was dry and my tent dried out. Little things make me happy these days.
The next day was a non race day and we started with a 20 k team time trial. Teams were selected randomly with 6 people in each team. Our team had Frans, Eric Defour and Andrew a sectional rider as the A team and Lynn, Old Eric and me as the B team. We decided to split up into 2 teams of 3 seeing that the 3rd riders time was the one that counted for the team and there was no reason for the B team to slow down the A team that was planning on going in the 40’s. The A team covered the distance in 35 mins with the B team passing 2 other full teams on our way to a 43 min time. Lynn did all the pulling for us and did a great job. It was really fun and I’m pretty sure the A team sealed the victory for us all. After that we still had 140 kms to get to the rest day in Windhoek. Getting to lunch was a fast affair and at 80 kms things were looking good, then the head wind started. It was the most brutal wind since day 2 and most people are putting the day in the top 5 or 10 hardest days of the tour. I rode with Erin grinding out kms into a unrelenting wind that was at times impassible and at times just down right annoying. We finally made it to town where we saw our first bike shop of the trip. I rode my bike right into the store and got them to fit a new jockey wheel on the derailer and also picked up 60 new spoke nipples. I got to camp and set up the tent and had a shower then started work on one of the wheels fitting the new nipples. I got the front wheel done by 6 pm which was dinner time. We all went to Joe’s Beerhouse for Jerry and Viv’s going away party. It is strange that they will not be at the finish line with us having ridden for so long. They were great people and I am so happy they came on the trip.
Peter a mate from work showed up in the middle of dinner. He and his dad and sister are riding the last section so it was fun catching up with him and finding out the Algerian gossip. We went back to camp to hit the bar there but it was closed so just before midnight I called it bed time and cralled into the tent. Woke up this morning and went to the bike to work on the other wheel. Got everything sorted with the nipple change over and left my bike for Chris to true the wheels.
Now I am at the mall to do some grocery shopping for the week and then head back to camp and get the big tires on for the dirt. Rest days go fast these days.
O well cape town in 13 riding days, 7 of them on dirt so hopefully my interest will be held, I will ride the whole time and then I can be excited for the rest of my life to start.
Later guys
Ricky

Double Centuary

Well the title says it all. Today we rode 210 kms into Namibia from Botswana. Last night we had a torrential downpour that didn’t end until about 1 hour into our ride. Knowing that as I was sitting in my tent many people would not be riding because they don’t ride in rain, or their backs hurt when it rains, made me feel even happier knowing that the accomplishment would be even larger with less people finishing the day.
I wanted to stay out of pace lines and do the whole distance myself so I started out early and found Jim on the road. I rode next to him for about 120 kms talking about basketball, tour gossip and what ever else we thought of along the way. We hit lunch at 75 kms and ate what we could and continued until my knee started to act up. I slowed up to the refresh stop at 155 kms and then something happened. My knee didn’t get better, I ate an orange and had some sprite, but when I got back on my bike I decided that I was raceing myself to the border. I had been averaging about 28 kms to that point for the day. After that point my low was 30 and most of the time I was going 36. It was fun and fast and when I got to the border 1 km from our camping spot I felt great. I was tired and sore and wanted to sleep, but I felt great for what I had accomplished that day. For how far I have come since the start of the trip. I was 100% satisfied with my day, with my effort and with my body and bike. It was a great time to reflect as I pulled into camp, set up my tent and then once again witnessed the torrential downpour for the night. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.
Ok, bedtime here, it is to loud to think in the tent anyway with the rain. Hopefully it stops by morning.
Goodnight all
Ricky

We have Internet

Internet on a non rest day is a treat we have only had a few times on this tour. Today is one of those days and even though it is 8:10 PM I feel like I need to write and write something good to celebrate the occasion. The ride today was once again boring and monotonous. It was 140 kms of flat nothing with no pace line and only a few passes. Lunch was normal, bread, some spreads, chicken loaf, and tomatoes. When we got to camp however there was an air of excitement. It was day 2 of the decathlon and this was a big event.
Today was the obstacle coarse. Once again Dave and Sunil set it up and it was great. I was the participant for our team today and went in about the middle of the contest. It started with a hand on the lunch truck. A sprint to 8 tires set up like the high knees football drill. A sprint around a tree to take a picture of the “rider board”. Then a camera handoff and a bike wheel roll about 75 ft to your bike which you then mounted, rode over a sand trap, over a bridge. Dismount and run through the bar, remount and then slalom through coke bottles. A scavenger hunt for 2 bike pumps and 2 water bottles, then another slalom run and finishing with a jump over some logs and a hand on the lunch truck again. I did not do too well. I fell in the sand, was slow on my bike mounting and was tired by the end. But it was sooooo much fun I am so glad I could compete. I think I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. Tomorrow is a coke chugging contest. I have a feeling that once again I will be going and I think I may be able to do better than I did today. I think the key will be to make sure the can is not too cold so that I do not get a brain freeze half way through like my practice tonight.
So yea, that is what hwppend today. I do not think we will have internet again until Windhoek, but you never know.
Now it is defiantly bedtime so hope everyone is having a great weekend. Later
Ricky

The Decathlon starts

Today was a fast riding day. I rode in a 2 line peloton all day for the first time since Sudan. It is boring riding like that, but with 2 lines at least you have someone to talk to and it passes the kms quicker which is important on 159 km days with nothing but flatness grass and trees. I was in a group of about 10-12 in the morning which dropped to 8 in the afternoon which is really the perfect number. Once we made it to camp it started to rain and I decided that setting up the tent could wait. During the wait we started the decathlon which Dave and Sunil had set up. Today’s event was the hole dig which consisted of a run for the shovel, a run to behind a bush, digging a 6 inch hole, running back and washing your hands. We are in 3 person teams and Jacob was the participant for our team. He went first and we ended up finishing in the middle of the pack. I think we have a few events coming up that we will do well in.
So tomorrow is 140 kms and it is flat and paved and if the rain is all done like we all hope maybe it will be a fast day into a lodge. Apparently this is our last bush camp for the trip, so it will be showers every night. Camps won’t all be fancy or in lodges and could be as simple as a caravan park, but having a shower when the days riding is over will be nice.
That’s all for tonight, goodnight guys
Ricky

Rest day in Maun, Botswana

Ok, have to be fast because there are limited Internet computers here and there are people waiting. Just wanted to say thanks for all the get well wishes. I am now 100% healthy again and other than the usual sore legs I am feeling really good. Also a big hello to the FHS faculty that are tracking me, I will be back in October to see everyone in person. Mr. Atwood, the birds here are amazing, 1 question though, some of them have these super long tails that makes it hard for them to fly. Any ideas why. They can still fly but it looks like a lot of effort and no one can give me a good answer to this.
Maun is a sleepy little town at the end of a long flat road. Well I guess in the middle of it because tomorrow we have 207 KMs to do and 800 in the next 5 days to Windhook. There is a Wimpys which puts on a great breakfast and has amazing milkshakes which I am going to go get my second of once this posts. Not much else going on. Our hotel is nice with a good bar, good food and a nice pool. I am camping and enjoying my tent once again. I only have a few more weeks of it so I thaught I should spend the time inside while I can. Yea, guess thats about it. I will try and get some good writing done this week, but it is hard after long days in the saddle.
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life. With this trip nearing the conclusion in Cape Town I am starting to think life in the real world won’t be so bad.
Not sure if I have put it in an update or not but I am down to 70 KGs, which means I have lost 19 or about 46 pounds since Cairo. Kind of crazy, but I am about the size I was 2nd year of University. Lost all the Schlumberger weight…. next step, well I still have some time to thnk about that one.

Later everyone
Ricky

April 21st It feels sooo good to be back

Pretty basic day. Wake up, pack up, eat breakfast, ride 85 kms to lunch, ride another 67 kms to the refresh stop, and then another 30 kms to camp. Average speed 29.0, max was 42 ish. All flat, all boring, the only thing that got me through the afternoon was the Ipod in the bag with a very quiet beat and the occasional lyric and Jacob riding in the vicinity of me so every once in a while we would talk and try to pass the peddle strokes.
Tonight we are staying in our second to last bush camp of the trip. It seams like there are starting to be a lot of lasts to the trip and it is getting a bit sad that things are slowly starting to wind down.
O well, everything has to end and only better things to come right?
Mom, hope you signed up Nadia and you for the awards dinner in Cape Town. If anyone else in Cape Town is interested apparently there are instructions on the TDA site, just email your name to Terresa in T.O.
Tomorrow is a rest day. My legs need it to recover, my snack bag needs it to grow, and I need to drink some chocolate milkshakes, most likely from steers.
Later all
Rick
Peter, if you read this I don’t need anything, see ya in a week, good luck in the triathalon!

April 21st It feels so good to be back

Pretty basic day. Wake up, pack up, eat breakfast, ride 85 kms to lunch, ride another 67 kms to the refresh stop, and then another 30 kms to camp. Average speed 29.0, max was 42 ish. All flat, all boring, the only thing that got me through the afternoon was the Ipod in the bag with a very quiet beat and the occasional lyric and Jacob riding in the vicinity of me so every once in a while we would talk and try to pass the peddle strokes.

Tonight we are staying in our second to last bush camp of the trip. It seams like there are starting to be a lot of lasts to the trip and it is getting a bit sad that things are slowly starting to wind down.

O well, everything has to end and only better things to come right?

Mom, hope you signed up Nadia and you for the awards dinner in Cape Town. If anyone else in Cape Town is interested apparently there are instructions on the TDA site, just email your name to Terresa in T.O.

Tomorrow is a rest day. My legs need it to recover, my snack bag needs it to grow, and I need to drink some chocolate milkshakes, most likely from steers.

Later all

Rick

Peter, if you read this I don’t need anything, see ya in a week, good luck in the triathalon!

April 19th Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated…

Well for the first time in a long time I felt good on the bike today. It was 159 kms of fast flat road. I managed to come into camp with an average speed of 28.3 kms putting my riding time at close to 6 hours. It got a little slow for the last 10 kms when a storm was coming and we had a pretty fierce head wind to contend with, but other than that everything was great. Lunch was hamburgers which were amazing. They were small and from a box but at 9:30 after 75 kms they were great.

Now it is almost 8 pm, I am in my tent because it is raining and I don’t have much else to say. Tomorrow is only 135 kms and we end up at a lodge so it means showers for everyone J

I will write more tomorrow.

Later

Ricky

April 18th Back on the Bike…

Well the title says it all, today I woke up feeling the best I have in a long time, got on a bike, and peddled the 82 kms to camp. It was a great feeling to ride, and to be able to ride with a little bit of power in my legs was a refreshing feeling. It was a nice short day to start off before my 159 kms tomorrow with 3 more 160ish days coming up after that.

We had lunch at 45 kms then headed to the border and the race end at 72 kms. It then got interesting with an easy checkout of Zambia. and then a sweet ferry ride into Botswana. The ferry passed through the only place in the world where 4 countries (Zambia, Zim, Botswana and Namibia) all meet. Once we had crossed into Botswana (actually a little bit of Zim, but who is counting) we got off the boat, headed to the Botswana border control and filled a little form and got into Botswana for free.

Nice surprise to get into a country for free, but apparently the rest of the way will be like that. It was about another 10 kms to get to camp and everyone was in by 2 PM, I think I was closer to 12. We had our rider meeting then headed off on a boat safari on the Chobe River. It was a great experience and we saw loads of Hippos, some Elephants, a Lion, a few crocks, a Nile monitor Lizard, mongooses, Ginny foul, Kudu, and some Impala. It was a cool trip even though it was getting pretty hot in the boat.

We got in pretty late, so it was a dark dinner of spaghetti and sauce with some salad. James is on vacation for a week so it is kind of cook by comity right now and round 1 went well. Ok, that’s all I have for today.

Later guys

Ricky

April 17th I am never jumping off anything that is in working order ever again. And I am not doing it twice…..

I am never jumping off anything that is in working order ever again. And I am not doing it twice…..

I did the triple play at the Zambezi river bridge on our way back to Zambia. The triple play consists of a 111 m bungee jump, a 111m gorge swing and a zipline across the gorge. I was second up for the bungee. It was stupid. And I am not talking good stupid, I’m talking special Ed stupid. So I get my legs wrapped up in towels and then a strap put around them. I get a bungee connected to them and a safety line put on the harness. I then am walked to the edge and before I realize what is going on the guy is counting down 5…4..3..2.1..Jump. I Jump and start to scream. I quickly realize that screaming is doing me no good at all, so I stop and just try to look down and wait for the bungee to grab me. It does and the next thing I know I think the bottom of the bridge is approaching way to fast. Once I do not hit the underside of the bridge, I start heading down again, fast. And then up, then down and I am starting to get used to it. Finally I stop with the up and down and this guy comes down to bring me up to the platform. He is my best friend ever. He hooks me up to a rope and together we get winched up to the platform below the jumping platform.

I walk along the bottom of the bridge and get back up topside. My harness gets taken off and still shaking from the jump I take a break and sit down. When sitting I am ok, but I can’t stand up without shaking for some time. After quite a while it is my turn to do the gorge swing. I think hard weather I really wanted to do this and while the answer is no, I have paid for it, and I don’t want to be the guy who chickened out. I get the harness on and crawl back on to the platform. This time I am on the right and I am holding onto the corner quite hard. I get connected to the rope which are very heavy and try to pull me off the platform. Like before the guy countsdown. 5..4..3..2..1..jump. While he is counting I am saying, no..no..no..no..no..no. He says jump I say no, and I am still on the platform. He looks at me and says what am I doing. I say I need a minute, he says I am wasting time, I tell him I am ok with that. I catch my breath, compose myself and then tell him to count. This time on jump I slowly run to the edge of the platform and jump. This is a pure freefall for 111 m. That is a long way. It is long enough to open my mouth to scream, have nothing come out. Close my mouth, open it again, look down, and look at the rope. And then finally the rope catches and I am swinging. It is a great feeling to be at the bottom, and swinging above a raging river in a slot canyon with a full circle rainbow at the bottom. I give thumbs up and then a wave all keeping 1 hand on the rope at all times. When I stop moving I am winched back to the lower deck and me and my shaky legs walk back up topside. Everyone relives the conversation I had with the guy, then I head for the zipline. The zipline was fine, nice easy, slow and a great view.

I am glad that I did the jumping off the bridge, but as far as I am concerned right now, there is no need to jump off anything that works for the rest of my life and I don’t know if anything will change that.

Later all,

Ricky