here comes the rainy season again..

This morning we had to do a 3.5 hour ride. It rained the whole night and most of yesterday, so I thought about skipping it, But at 8:00 it stopped raining and there was no excuse. Skidding through the mud was actually fun and it left its mark.

The town, Ntotroso. It is about 13km's from our village and the first town we cycle through on our 40km loop. 

Evidence of the muddy ride and a not so flattering tan.. The gardener thought I looked very funny and couldn't stop himself from laughing at me. So I had to take a photo. He just wants to install a "nice big mud guard" on my bike, in exchange for my cycling gloves of course..

Just another few weeks

This photo was taken, while I cycled, with my new Olympus Stylus Tough-8010. The camera is 10m waterproof and 2m shockproof, which makes it the perfect little camera to take on an epic bicycle tour.

13 Dec 2010
I take this back now - the camera is already broken. It has not even been used under water or dropped!

After my "incident", I was trapped in the Village, until my riding partner returned from SA.

The incident:

Expat Cyclist harassed by youth

On the morning of 2 September, a South African lady in her late 20's was attacked by Ghanain youths. As she came up the road that leads to the township, Tutuka, 3 children jumped in her way to stop her. There were one teenage girl and two young boys. They grapped her bicycle's handlebar, which caused her to loose balance and stop. They demanded money, which she did not have. The boys then tried to take her camelbak and open the saddlebag to get money, all while the teenage girl held on to the handlebars.

"I had to kick and hit the children to get away and almost fell as the girl kept grapping my bike's handlebars. I sped away, while the little boy was throwing me with stones. I phoned the local security, which came to my rescue and to talk to the children, but they had run away."

The lady was not injured, but a bit rattled. This was not the first incident of expats getting harassed for money in the district. They are encouraged to not cycle alone.

END

On the Friday night we presented an Auction of lovely paintings like these, in aid of a local hospital. We managed to raise more than 15,000 US$ for the cause and had a very nice time doing it in our "tropical formal attire". The paintings were done by a former resident of the Village and donated to the hospital.

Back to cycling
Last night I had my first nightmare about the tour.. Me starting, with only my bicycle and the clothes on my back, nothing else. Forgot to take money, spares, clothes.. Just the knowledge of how to cover my poop. (this was the last information package we received from the TOUR - in detail, how to handle our human waste for 4 months, as we are doing it in mother nature)

Furthermore I am following my "advanced 12 week Heart Rate cycle program" tamely.

Now there are about 17 weeks left ..

Out of Africa for 3weeks

Leaving on my "Jet-Plane" from the Sunyani airport

We had a lovely R&R  for 3 weeks in Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangkok. And for a long time I have not given any attention to my blogspot..

My good friend - No37  thought he should show me how it is done again.   

So here it is:  my life in his witty words:

"The time for training is now. Unfortunately it is also the time for exams, going to South-East Asia and going home. All this means I haven’t been able to practice. Or blog.

The trip to Cambodia and Vietnam was like a dream come true. A hot, wet dream come true. The problem of training for cycling in these areas is the traffic on the paved roads is absolutely crazy. I don’t have a death wish (1) So I had to stay off the roads. The unpaved roads are muddy to liquid. So it is difficult and unpleasant to cycle on (in). I also left my bike in Ghana which made it rather difficult to ride.

Let me remind you why I am going to put myself through 5000km (it is actually 12 000 km..) of cycling hell. It is to help the foundation. For just R250 you sponsor a child to sport. That is about $35. Knowing that sport is good blah blah

Now to increase the number of sponsors, I will do the following. For every 5 new sponsors I will put up a picture of myself, in cycling gear, going up a hill. From behind. The picture will be taken from behind. I will be cycling up its front. As we get nearer the target of sponsors, the zoom on the pictures will increase. 

My training regime for the next few weeks is: 34km daily, running, swimming, swinging from tree to tree like jane (2) and studying from 9 to 11, then to the club for lunch where the ladies all discuss the new waiter’s physique. Back to the books after lunch until my dearly beloved comes home from the mine. I then wash the gold dust from his hair and put it in the small jar next to the bed. We will take it back to South Africa so I can melt it down and get that hole in my molar filled"

(1) Not for myself

(2) From Tarzan and Jane, idiot