TdA Day 11. Safely in Sudan!

107km. Desert Camp to Dongola.

Yay, I have cheekbones again!

Adam, Carrie and I headed out shortly before sunrise this morning. And I had this feeling like this is what bicycle dreams are made of. The air is fresh. Really, really fresh. And the pavement is flawless. And there is no traffic. And there are miles and miles of open road ahead. And the day is just beginning, so you have so much to look forward to.

We rode at a moderate pace in the morning and then Adam and I joined a pack of men's-peloton-dropouts in the afternoon (Scott, Paul, Joerg, Mike-with-three-bikes). I think that some of these guys will move up in the standings as the roads get tougher, but they are opting out of the chaos that has taken over the men's race. They are just burying each other.

We entered the city of Dongola with a police escort in front and back. Both with sirens on full alert. And there was a media truck with two guys with video cameras beside us, filming. (Probably should not have worn my short shorts today?). I've never had such an entrance. It was exhilarating. And then the local tv station wanted to interview me. And then the national tv station wanted to interview me. Cool.

Communication has been quite limited, so it was only here that rumours started to go around about the stuff going down in Egypt. Erik sent me some news articles. It is so strange to think how worried we were about Sudan and then for Egypt to be in such a state right now. Our timing was very lucky.

Our camp for the next two nights is at the Dongola Zoo. The only wildlife I have seen is a rat and some pretty birds. We have a rest day tomorrow, so I will check around to see what other signs of life I can find.