Dead Camels (Days 16-18)
By admin. Filed in Sudan |
We awoke in Dongola to the biggest Muslim wake-up call yet, and so were primed to jump out of our tents and prep for the day at break-neck speed. This was our first day of the new racing rules, where we can leave as early as we want to instead of waiting until 8:00. Because of this, all of the slower riders (like me) are trying to leave as early as possible so we can finish before dark.
This strategy worked pretty well for me, and I managed to push hard and keep up with groups in pace lines until lunch. We had very favorable tail winds for the first three days that definitely helped. The heat of the afternoons sapped my energy, however, and my speed dropped accordingly each day. We are on a four-day accelerated course to Khartoum to allow for our excursion through Dinder National Park next week. Every rider has different limits, and one decided to ride 65k in the dirt “just for fun.”
The days were long, and the infrequent coke stops very welcome. At one coke stop, however, I ended up with a broken spoke, probably after a boy decided he wanted to ride my bike. At the same stop, I dropped my toothbrush, and the strong-tempered shopkeeper seemed to want to sell it back to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize it until that evening when I went to brush my teeth. That same man started yelling at Anke and pointing to her legs. My best guess is that he wasn’t pleased that there was some skin showing–even though she is probably the most conservatively-dressed female in our group, and is always wearing a long skirt over her bike shorts. It’s hard to explain the need for cycling shorts to the locals sometimes.
We saw a fair bit of camel herding in the mornings, when it was still cool. In the afternoons, we would ride past lone piles of camel bones in the desert. The first night after Dongola, we nicknamed our camp “Dead Camel Camp,” as we settled in between three rotting carcasses. We have outlasted these hardy creatures of the desert. For now.