TdA Stage 1. Dead Cats and Cairo Real Estate

135km.
Heading south from Cairo by police escort, with a quick detour to the pyramids. Riding in a busy city by police escort is challenging, but was probably the only way for a group of our size to make it safely out of the city. At the very least, it was a good opportunity to see this very big city in a way that I might not otherwise be able to. For example, if I had been in a taxi, I probably would not have noticed that dead cat in a puddle. Still, I love how cities and places smell and sound different. Since starting in Alexandria, I've seen dead dogs, dead horses, dead cats, live camels. I've smelled fresh falafel, raw sewage, diesel exhaust.
There are a lot of half built buildings on the way out of Cairo. At first, I thought they were just run down condos, but a lot of them are just empty. I'm not sure what they are building for, but if someone offers me an real estate investment opportunity in Cairo, I will have no trouble turning it down.
NoHomo rode this stage in his bibs, which was good entertainment. I preferred to stick with my jacket, as the ambient temperature could not have been more than 15 degrees. We had a good tail wind for much of the last 70km rolling into camp. It helped me stick to riding mostly by myself, which I wanted to do until I get into a rhythm. Got a flat about 500metres from camp. I think that I will have to revise my strategy of riding over and through everything as I found two pieces of wire and two pieces of glass that had made their way through the rubber.
We are camping in the desert tonight, and we will continue to do so until we reach Luxor on Thursday. That means no toilets and no showers until then.