To Khartoum By Bicycle

Another rest day. Another day of hand washing and loading up on junk and showering and preparing our bodies for the next stretch, a long one, 7 days to Gondor, Ethiopia. We will have two century rides, three days of gravel through Dinder National Park and several days of climbing. It is hot, and dusty in Khartoum. We started the day off with a 20km time trial, everyone for themselves as fast as you can go in as much of a sprint as possible, followed by 44 km of riding then a hot, loud LONG 40km police escorted convoy into the sprawling city of Khartoum. I surprised myself in the time trial, moving a lot faster than I thought was possible for myself. Cool that my first ever time trial was in Sudan, of all places. The last few days of hot riding has taxed people and the rest day is a lucky break. The temperature was well into the 40s as we rode past donkey carts and taxi cabs and mini buses. We rode over the bridge which is the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, an amazing expanse of water in a dry land. It is no wonder 8 million people live in this city so close to the water, because as we can attest, the desert is a tough place to exist.

Last night in camp we had a sand storm, one of the things that my camping skills are not yet solid with. Our tents got tested to their maximum wind ratings and everyone went to bed with small sand dunes inside their tents. Sand and desert has such a romanticized feel until you have sand stuck in every orifice of your body.

The last week of riding has increased my self confidence and strength with my riding. The sun is a whole new element to learn to deal with especially with the start of Doxycycline for Malaria which has a side effect of increased sun sensitivity. Already I have been dealing with extremely bad heat rash on my thighs which I imagine will only get worse as the temperature rises. We have been told we have not seen the hottest temperatures yet. I can only imagine. The unfortunate part of the desert is how freezing cold the mornings are, we huddle together drinking our hot drinks in our arm warmers and leg warmers only to be dripping with sweat hours later, drinking warm electrolyte drink and water from our water bottles…oh the irony.