Day 7 started off uneventful but before the first 40km were over it got exciting.
We were leaving the city preparing for a 400km day. Just as we were to the outskirts of the city, we were puttering along probably about 40 mph, 65 kmh, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something.
The following all took place in about 2 seconds but it seemed like minutes to me.
I saw something out of the corner of my eye and immediately it registered as a dog running towards the road in full sprint.
I remember looking at him looking in front of me and in my mirrors. Realizing quickly there was no way for me to miss the dog coming. I didnt have to power to speed up and I was afraid to jam on the brakes because the formation was behind me so didnt want to put everyone else in a bind by me locking up my brakes.
Quikly I looked again at the dog and decided it was best for me to just peg the throttle. At the rate we were both going he was going to end up directly in front of me and then under my wheels and I knew this would likely result in me, the scooter and the dog all flying. I hit the throttle and the speed up as best I could.
The dog comes in his head slamming into my front fork then his body twisting sideways as his ass end came around hitting the side of the scooter he then twirled past me down the road.
We stopped soon after that and the guy behind me said he had it all on video. At lunch we watched the video and it confirmed everything as I stated above. I was glad that all my motorcycle experience paid off and I was able to react in an appropriate way to lessen the damage to myself and those around me. I do feel sorry for the dog but I did the best I could.
As the day went one we got into some mountains
I never realized Egypt was anything other than desert.
This was at our lunch break.
We would leave lunch in the normal fashion. Scooters first then maybe 30 minutes later the motorcycles would leave. We only had about 100 km to go until our stop for the evening. Normally the motorcycles catch up with the scooters in about 30 minutes or so.
So the scooters drove for about an hour and then we stopped to make a photo shoot quickly. I remember mentioning that it seems strange that the motorcyclist hadn't passed us yet. Then about this time an ambulance came FLYING down the road. I remember specifically saying wow he was in a hurry.
The scooters continued on to our stop and the motorcyclist never caught up. We arrived and everyone was wondering what was going. Finally a while later the motorcycle's arrived and informed us there was an accident in their group. That is all the info we had
So we were saddened but tried to keep ourselves distracted. Then a few hours later the news was given to us. One of the people involved in the accident was my roommate Bruce and he did not make it. The second person involved, was ok just shaken up.
I was in shock Bruce was a great guy! His son was also on this trip and was also my roommate. I just didnt know what to say or do. In complete shock. In one day I had almost had an accident then my roommate has one later in the day.
The motorcycle gods can be a cruel lot. Bruce you were a great guy! Simon I am sorry for your loss. One of the few things I regret is I never got a picture with the 3 of us together....
Here's to you Bruce
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