We don't understand each other, but we can all dance

We had a short four day ride from Addis Ababa to Abra Minch.  The southern part of Ethiopia was greener than the north.  A rider told me that in one day, we crossed over at least five different languages.  The villages looked very different than the north as well.  Typically the villages in the south had a "town square" type of open area.  Many times, there were volleyball courts with the nets seemed way too high.

The morale among the riders were noticeably lower.  A lot of people started to get home sick.  I'm doing quite well.  Although I miss my family and friends, I have been away from home for extended time before.

We will cross into Kenya in a few days.  Next section will be tough, seven days of riding on dirt, including two on lava rocks in northern Kenya.  Access to water will be very limited, since there is a drought in Kenya.  Although we will still get unlimited drinking water.  It will be hot and humid too.  It was 98F in my tent last night.  This section will be a great challenge for us.

Stage 31 - Addis Ababa was a nice ending to the Gorge Section.  I had really nice ice cream, cake, pizza, fruit juice, and Hungarian goulash on the rest day.  It was a treat for all of us.  Today we start a new section called "Meltdown Madness."  I can only imagine the new challenges this section will bring.  Two new riders also joined our group.

We convoyed out of Addis for the first 15kms.  We heard applauds and cheers along the way.  In fact the whole morning ride was really a pleasant surprise with people cheered us on.  As soon as we left the city, the convoy quickly separated.  There were some good climbs before lunch, but it was mostly down hill today.  Right after I left the lunch stop, about 1km away, three kids stood next to a bridge.  When I passed them, one of them threw a handful of gravel at me.  Good thing I was wearing sun glasses.  I stopped and the kids scattered to the field.  A truck behind me also stopped.  The driver and a passenger jumped out and chased after the kids for a few meters.  They asked if I was OK and I should go to the next town to report the incident to the police.  One guy gestured using his index finger moving in circles around his temple and said "village people are crazy."  I shook their hands and thanked them for stopping.  I was moved by the experience and totally forgot about those kids.  In the morning, a similar incident happened to Megan, when kids threw gravel at her too.  Patrick was behind her and he just cycled into the fields when the kids ran away.  I stopped at a Coke stop in the afternoon and had two draft beers!  Yes, cold draft beers were on tap.  Drinking beer seemed to be a part of the culture here.  Both men and women drink.

Section 32 - I have not yet described all the riders in detail.  Horst is from Germany and was in second place in the racing group.  He decided to quit racing this morning.  He wanted to experience Africa.  As a racer in the first peloton group, a typical ride last about four hours.  Rest of the time, they spent it in camp.  They never stop for Coke stops or take pictures.  Their objective is to win each stage, so they miss a lot.  I decided long ago not to take the race part seriously.  I want to take my time, to meet people, take pictures, and take in the Africa experience.   I'm in the race only to keep track of my time, as I clock in every morning (a good reminder to take my Malaria medication) and clock out at the end of the ride.

The scenery changed again today.  The mountains around us were green with trees.  This is very different from the north, where most of the mountains were barren. I also noticed there were more mosques here.  50% of the people here are Muslims,  whereas the north were predominately Coptic Christians.  People were very friendly today.  Even the kids were shouting "welcome!"  At a Coke stop, an elderly man stopped to ask us about our journey.  After hearing about it, he said "I appreciate you."  We heard this over and over again all along the trip.  We are so lucky to have this opportunity to do this trip.

About 3km from the camp, we found a juice bar at a little town.  I had two glasses of mango, papaya, and avocado mix.  It was delicious.  Both glasses of fresh juice and a basket of bread for less than a dollar!  After the juice stop, Heather and I went to the hotel next door and had a big glass of beer.  Martin, a TDA mechanic was running sweep (keep an eye out for the last rider).  He joined us for a beer as well.  I finally rolled into camp at 4:30, very late for me.

We changed our tires tonight, as we will be on dirt road for a week or so.  Northern Kenya will be very rough, we will go through lava rocks for 200kms.

Stage 33 - Last night I finished writing the blog entry in the tent and wanted to go to the bathroom before going to sleep.  I unzipped the tent and noticed my shoes were gone.  Some locals stole my shoes right under the tent vestibule.  I was lucky to only have lost my flippers, three other riders had their cycling shoes stolen last night.

Around 1am, I got up to pee.  The moon light lit the camp ground pretty well.  I walked about 10 yards and heard a strange but scary noise from the distant forest.  It sounded like bird, may be something from Jurassic Parks.  I took a few more steps and the sound continued.  I quickly peed and went back to bed.  That's real bush camping!

This morning, we had a lot of climbing and a very steep descend.  On a downhill, the cross wind blew me across the road to the other side.  If there had been a car or truck, I might have crossed into their path.  The kids were non stop today as well.  A kid threw a rock at me, I turned around and saw the mother threw two rocks at the kid.  We also had kids threw water at us today.  That was actually pretty refreshing.  Marellie had her iPod stolen.  She threatened to tell the police, and the kids returned it.  Later, she got a rock hit squarely on her disc break and bent the disc.  The kids had been a constant struggle for us mentally.  There were so many nice people we met along the way, but few kids kept on ruining it.  Some of the riders were on edge and went after the kids.  I kept my emotions in check and not let a few bad seeds to get the best of me.

At the 95km, I was almost out of gas.  A few riders saw me coming down a hill and shouted my name from a Coke stop.  I gulped down four pineapple Fantas.   Fantas are usually orange flavored, pineapple flavor was a treat.

Stage 34 - The camp ground we slept on last night was hot, and it reminded me of my grandmother's mud bed.  She had a single room with a built in mud bed that took up almost half of the room.  For the cold winter nights, the heat from the kitchen next door was channeled under the bed to creat some warmth.

The road started to get bad now.  Some sections were paved, while most were gravel dirt.  I had a flat tire in the morning.  Kids always gather around us whenever we stop.  One rider had to use the bathroom in the field, and 20 kids stood around him and watched him did his business.

About 30km in, I stopped with Ram, Emanuel, Rebeca (pronounced Reb-kah), and Christine.  Emanuel and Rebeca were originally from Ethiopia but lived in the US.  They are actually moving to South Africa.  Emanuel told me the local people spoke a different language than what he spoke, "we don't understand each other."  Ram started a goofy dance and the kids joined in.  They loved the interaction.  I also joined in for a while.  We all laughed together.

Arba Minch is a small town that sits between two lakes.  Our camp site was right in between the two.  One of the lake is redish in color, while the other is clear.  There are fresh water crocodiles in the clear lake.  We started to see some wild life on the rides, I saw a fox and a deer the other day.  There are baboons and these huge birds at the camp site.

We don't understand each other, but we can all dance.

We had a short four day ride from Addis Ababa to Abra Minch.  The southern part of Ethiopia was greener than the north.  A rider told me that in one day, we crossed over at least five different languages.  The villages looked very different than the north as well.  Typically the villages in the south had a "town square" type of open area.  Many times, there were volleyball courts with the nets seemed way too high.

The morale among the riders were noticeably lower.  A lot of people started to get home sick.  I'm doing quite well.  Although I miss my family and friends, I have been away from home for extended time before.

We will cross into Kenya in a few days.  Next section will be tough, seven days of riding on dirt, including two on lava rocks in northern Kenya.  Access to water will be very limited, since there is a drought in Kenya.  Although we will still get unlimited drinking water.  It will be hot and humid too.  It was 98F in my tent last night.  This section will be a great challenge for us.

Stage 31 - Addis Ababa was a nice ending to the Gorge Section.  I had really nice ice cream, cake, pizza, fruit juice, and Hungarian goulash on the rest day.  It was a treat for all of us.  Today we start a new section called "Meltdown Madness."  I can only imagine the new challenges this section will bring.  Two new riders also joined our group.

We convoyed out of Addis for the first 15kms.  We heard applauds and cheers along the way.  In fact the whole morning ride was really a pleasant surprise with people cheered us on.  As soon as we left the city, the convoy quickly separated.  There were some good climbs before lunch, but it was mostly down hill today.  Right after I left the lunch stop, about 1km away, three kids stood next to a bridge.  When I passed them, one of them threw a handful of gravel at me.  Good thing I was wearing sun glasses.  I stopped and the kids scattered to the field.  A truck behind me also stopped.  The driver and a passenger jumped out and chased after the kids for a few meters.  They asked if I was OK and I should go to the next town to report the incident to the police.  One guy gestured using his index finger moving in circles around his temple and said "village people are crazy."  I shook their hands and thanked them for stopping.  I was moved by the experience and totally forgot about those kids.  In the morning, a similar incident happened to Megan, when kids threw gravel at her too.  Patrick was behind her and he just cycled into the fields when the kids ran away.  I stopped at a Coke stop in the afternoon and had two draft beers!  Yes, cold draft beers were on tap.  Drinking beer seemed to be a part of the culture here.  Both men and women drink.

Section 32 - I have not yet described all the riders in detail.  Horst is from Germany and was in second place in the racing group.  He decided to quit racing this morning.  He wanted to experience Africa.  As a racer in the first peloton group, a typical ride last about four hours.  Rest of the time, they spent it in camp.  They never stop for Coke stops or take pictures.  Their objective is to win each stage, so they miss a lot.  I decided long ago not to take the race part seriously.  I want to take my time, to meet people, take pictures, and take in the Africa experience.   I'm in the race only to keep track of my time, as I clock in every morning (a good reminder to take my Malaria medication) and clock out at the end of the ride.

The scenery changed again today.  The mountains around us were green with trees.  This is very different from the north, where most of the mountains were barren. I also noticed there were more mosques here.  50% of the people here are Muslims,  whereas the north were predominately Coptic Christians.  People were very friendly today.  Even the kids were shouting "welcome!"  At a Coke stop, an elderly man stopped to ask us about our journey.  After hearing about it, he said "I appreciate you."  We heard this over and over again all along the trip.  We are so lucky to have this opportunity to do this trip.

About 3km from the camp, we found a juice bar at a little town.  I had two glasses of mango, papaya, and avocado mix.  It was delicious.  Both glasses of fresh juice and a basket of bread for less than a dollar!  After the juice stop, Heather and I went to the hotel next door and had a big glass of beer.  Martin, a TDA mechanic was running sweep (keep an eye out for the last rider).  He joined us for a beer as well.  I finally rolled into camp at 4:30, very late for me.

We changed our tires tonight, as we will be on dirt road for a week or so.  Northern Kenya will be very rough, we will go through lava rocks for 200kms.

Stage 33 - Last night I finished writing the blog entry in the tent and wanted to go to the bathroom before going to sleep.  I unzipped the tent and noticed my shoes were gone.  Some locals stole my shoes right under the tent vestibule.  I was lucky to only have lost my flippers, three other riders had their cycling shoes stolen last night.

Around 1am, I got up to pee.  The moon light lit the camp ground pretty well.  I walked about 10 yards and heard a strange but scary noise from the distant forest.  It sounded like bird, may be something from Jurassic Parks.  I took a few more steps and the sound continued.  I quickly peed and went back to bed.  That's real bush camping!

This morning, we had a lot of climbing and a very steep descend.  On a downhill, the cross wind blew me across the road to the other side.  If there had been a car or truck, I might have crossed into their path.  The kids were non stop today as well.  A kid threw a rock at me, I turned around and saw the mother threw two rocks at the kid.  We also had kids threw water at us today.  That was actually pretty refreshing.  Marellie had her iPod stolen.  She threatened to tell the police, and the kids returned it.  Later, she got a rock hit squarely on her disk break and bent the dis.  The kids had been a constant struggle for us mentally.  There were so many nice people we met along the way, but few kids kept on ruining it.  Some of the riders were on edge and went after the kids.  I kept my emotions in check and not let a few bad seeds to get the best of me.

At the 95km, I was almost out of gas.  A few riders saw me coming down a hill and shouted my name from a Coke stop.  I gulped down four pineapple Fantas.   Fantas are usually orange flavored, pineapple flavor was a treat.

Stage 34 - The camp ground we slept on last night was hot, and it reminded me of my grandmother's mud bed.  She had a single room with a built in mud bed that took up almost half of the room.  For the cold winter nights, the heat from the kitchen next door was channeled under the bed to create some warmth.

The road started to get bad now.  Some sections were paved, while most were gravel dirt.  I had a flat tire in the morning.  Kids always gather around us whenever we stop.  One rider had to use the bathroom in the field, and 20 kids stood around him and watched him did his business.

About 30km in, I stopped with Ram, Emanuel, Rebeca (pronounced Reb-kah), and Christine.  Emanuel and Rebeca were originally from Ethiopia but lived in the US.  They are actually moving to South Africa.  Emanuel told me the local people spoke a different language than what he spoke, "we don't understand each other."  Ram and I started a goofy dance and the kids joined in.  They loved the interaction.  We all laughed together.

Arba Minch is a small town that sits between two lakes.  Our camp site was right in between the two.  One of the lake is reddish in color, while the other is clear.  There are fresh water crocodiles in the clear lake.  We started to see some wild life on the rides, I saw a fox and a deer the other day.  There are baboons and these huge birds at the camp site.