Cross Egypt Challenge Part 4

Of course the news of Bruce put a dark cloud over things for the evening. We were staying that night in Marsa Alam on the Red Sea.

We were staying in tents on the beach it was very nice

My tent was a very lonely. I left the lamp on all evening in case if Simon, Bruces son, came back he would be able to find the tent.

It was decided before we went to bed that we would continue with the tour and try to finish. As the night wore on it started raining and continued most the night. 

The rain swept off the mountains toward the sea making the roads virtually impassable during the storm.

Simon came back about 4:30 in the morning as I was waking up 

By the time the sun came up things had more or less dried up and we pressed on.

Everyone was rather cautious after the accident the day before. The roads were still a bit damp but nothing to bad

You can see the mountains in the distance there where the water was funneled from.

We stopped at a place for lunch. Then it started to rain again and rain hard. We waited and as soon as it stopped we took off like snail powered rockets! Trying to beat the rain to our next destination. The roads we encountered were good and flooded though

I thought it was kinda fun!

We were pulling into the city of El Gouna just as the sun was setting. It was crazy! Not all the oncoming traffic had their headlights on and we had to do a u-turn. As I was coming around the turn a big truck almost side swiped me. I was able to avoid him but it was much closer than I wanted.

We finally pulled into the hotel and fueled up and called it a night.

It rained all night. The next morning we woke up and were told the roads were closed due to sections being washed out from the rains.

We were scheduled to drive 275 km. I done the basic math and figured we needed to leave by about 12:00 pm at the latest. It should take about 4 hours to drive that far, on good roads. The sun was setting around 5:00 pm so to take into consideration the bad roads I figured 12:00 was the absolute latest we should leave.

Well we kept being told to wait and wait and wait. Then about 12:30 or so we were told to load up we are heading out! I have to admit I was not to excited at the prospect of driving at night but thought well 4 hours if the roads are not to bad we will still make it just as the sun goes down.

Immediately we were stopped by police officers saying the road was closed

Things were not looking good.

We were driving through mud, washed out roads and standing water.

I saw the guy in front of me go down, thankfully we were at walking speed, and I know of one other scooter that went down.

I dont have any pics of this because I was so focused on not going down in the mud I didnt have time.

Just as the sun was going down were were still probably 100km from our destination and we got stuck in traffic

Just after that last picture we were able to make some headway. We stopped and had to get fuel. It was now dark... I have to admit I was pretty frustrated at this point. I know the organizers were in between a rock and a hard place.

If we would of stayed in the hotel we were that morning we would of had a very long day the next day trying to make it to Cairo. 

Pushing on like we did though I thought was a horrible idea, especially considering the incident we just had 2 days before.

In the end we ended up driving about 1.5 hours in the dark. Was it a smart decision or the right decision is debatable. Luckily nobody was hurt and we made it to the hotel.

The next morning scooters looked like this

The morning was bright and sunny! It was a short day just into Cairo for the finish.

It was uneventful when we arrived in Cairo the police had the street completely cleared for us. If you ever been to Cairo you understand how big of a feat that in itself was!

The ending of the trip was pretty cool. We got to drive right up to the pyramids!

We finished just shy of 3000km

After our closing ceremony we all kind of went our separate ways. 

First thing I wanted was my victory dinner of KUSHARI

The hotel I had reserved looked out over the Sphinx

I cleaned up and that evening Olga and I went into Cairo for one final dinner with a few of the people from the trip.

Here we are 11 different nations all around one table with only smiles and laughter!

The next day I made it back to Kiev and it was all over.

My final thoughts on the trip.

I have done longer trips and more physically demanding trips but I am not sure I have done a trip that was more psychologically demanding than this. To stay in a formation for 3000 km always thinking about the guy in front of or behind you. Trying not to choke the guy screaming in a bullhorn at every stop wanting you to hurry up.  Not really understanding whats going on but being herded through a check point. For me it was hard mentally because I am used to being on my own. To be with 50 people was different for me.

It was much more difficult than I thought it would be. The scooter was about as comfortable as riding riding a saw horse.

It was astonishing how well organized the trip was. To get 50 riders and all the logistics needed to pull off a tour like this is impressive to say the least.

The people on the trip were AMAZING and I couldn't of wished to spend the time with better folks!

I do wish we had more time in the evenings to see things and maybe a rest day in the middle would of been nice to.

Would I do it again... Maybe but not on a scooter I would upgrade to a motorcycle. :) Like I said above the people are great the country is well worth the visit. 

If anyone was thinking about doing it I would say go for it. 

Just understand your getting into something that wont be 100% enjoyable all the time but in the end you will look back on it and be glad you accomplished it.

Cross Egypt Challenge Part 3

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

Cross Egypt Challenge Part 2

So far the riding had been pretty easy. The longest day was yesterday and was about 305 km.

The next leg was going to be the longest yet at 450 km. We woke up at 4:30 to get on the road. It was a pretty uneventful day really. 

The only problem I had was the fact I am just toooooooo big for this little damned scooter! I end up sitting where the passenger would normally sit. This doesn't seem like a big deal but there is virtually no padding on the seat there so by the end of the day I am hurting.

We made it to Luxor no issues and it was a nice little place

Here is Peter and I waiting in traffic somewhere in the town

You can kind of see here me sitting on the back of the scooter. The other issue was sitting like that put a lot of stress on my shoulders so I was pretty worn out after a day like today.

That evening some of uf went on a quick little tour of the Luxor Temples

While we were walking around the temples I saw a few people dressed in traditional Ukrainian dress. I was hoping Olga wouldnt see them because then I knew it would turn into a gab fest...

Well of course she saw them and they started talking. It didnt last long, thank god, or so I thought.... Then one of the ladies came back and started talking to Peter, who is Austrian and knows no Russian. Olga and I were listening and I think we were both in shock. Olga wasnt translating and Peter was just standing there confused. Finally I told Peter that this lady was going on about how beautiful his soul was and that he is a wonderful and great man. It seemed really strange but Olga confirmed that is more or less what was said... It made for an interesting evening!

After that we went to a light show but I would say 99% of us fell asleep during the light show because we were so exhausted.

The next morning we woke up again at 4:30 for the longest ride of the trip, 510km

Most of the ride would be through the desert. IT WAS AMAZING.

I have always heard about the great Sahara Desert and for once the place lived up to the hype. As I was riding I was trying to put into words how beautiful and mesmerizing it was yet I was speechless. 

It was unreal to drive along and see the mirages. You would swear just ahead everything was flooded. Yet we would keep driving and driving and never come closer the the great flood that was in front of us. The shear emptiness of everything around us was astounding. Then to imagine it just kept going and going and going like this wow it was marvelous!

It was also HOT I dont know the exact high but it was past 100F, 38C, and so dry. When we stopped for lunch I just wanted to find somewhere to get out of the sun. The best we could do was one of the chase vans

We made it to our destination Abu Simbal 90 minutes ahead of schedule. There isnt much there but this temple. I was saddened we werent there in time for it to be open so we could go inside. Instead we watched a light show. It was very interesting. This temple was one of the highlights of the trip! They statues and carvings were stunning and monumental. To imagine all of this was done with hand tools and manual labor I was flabbergasted.

Day 6 was a short day only 285km to Aswan. We were even able to sleep in until 5:00!!!

We were haeaded back through the desert again! We got started a bit early in the morning I believe and were ahead of schedule again. So it was decided to have a prolonged lunch. Not all of us were happy about this because it was hot and there was no shade but things could of been worse.

Peter made the best of it and took his Africa Twin offroad to get some photos

We arrived in Aswan unscathed and refreshed. A few of us took a swim in the pool then that evening had a little boat ride

All in all the second half of the Cross Egypt Challenge has been a blast!

Danny and Madrid

I had a direct flight to Madrid from Catania. It was a quick flight and when I landed Danny was waiting for me!

It had been probably 5 years since I had last seen him. We were both drinking on my last night in Kansas before I went to Antarctica. When I came back he was gone to Spain.

It was in the evening so we got dinner with his husband and sister in law then went to bed

In the morning Danny tells me ok your on your own today. when you leave the house to the right is where the hookers hang out and the left is the tourist stuff.... Thank Danny Thanks!

So at first I went left to see the tourist stuff

I spent the day walking around and eating their version of Mexican food!

I saw a lot but really saw nothing I feel. I had come mostly to catch up with my friend so the site seeing was a plus

I went back to Danny's place and he came home. I was a bit early though so I decided to go right and see what the hookers looked like in Madrid. Ohh I was disapointed. I see normal girls better than that in Moscow!

He had this pork leg he would gnaw on

That evening we walked around

The next day Danny was free so we hung out and caught up on old times

We had a couple beers on a roof top terrace

We killed the day out and about

We went out to some clubs with his friends that evening.

The next day I was on a flight rather early in the morning so I headed off.

All in all the vacation was exactly what I wanted to catch up with friends!