Not so lazy now.

So, its been a while since I had the time, energy and access to good internet to update a blog.

I think last time I wrote it up, I was in Malawi. Since then, I've ridden out of Malawi to Zambia, across Zambia to Victoria Falls, took a detour into Zimbabwe, powered across rainy Botswana and landed here, in Namibia.

Its been a pretty wearing few weeks. Part of me expected to be home and hosed after the hills of Malawi. I figured that the long days in Botswana must mean that the riding was easy. Not so. Our promised tailwinds deserted us. Even turned against us on the last day of riding. The wet season made a return, so we had rainy camps and wet rides.

Despite that, it has been great. Even on the days that turn into slow slugfests, there is something unreal about what our bodes are capable of now. I couldn't do a hand flip to save my life now, but I can sit in a saddle and mash my pedals for hours every day. The moment I realised that even though I felt terrible and wondered what I was doing I had still ridden 80km before morning tea and was about to cross the Zambian / Botswanan border on a tiny ferry was awesome. It was like the time I was zipping down to the bottom of the Blue Nile Gorge, overwhelmed by the immensity of the place and amazed that I was being allowed to race through it.

Here is me in Namibia, halfway through a day fighting a massive headwind.

As you can see, I am now made out of spaghetti and tangerines. My bike is still holding it together pretty well. For the last 3 or so weeks, I've been pumping up my rear tube every morning because I have a slow week. I figured that I had to change my tires in Namibia anyway - no point doing that extra work. Of course, on the last day before tire changes for the dirt, I got a flat in the ride and had to spend some extra time changing it.

My (now maybe dead) GPS in the middle of a longish day.

On the really fast days, my GPS shudders around like nothing else. Even with the zipties, it is like being in a WWII fighter plane, plummeting towards the ground, trying to read the alitimeter. At 70km/hr, I can barely see the numbers. It is how you now that you are going awesome speed. As an added bonus, you can see the relaxed, professional grip that I have on my bars.

In a Wimpys in Maun, Botswana. Maun is a jumping off point for safaris into the Okavango Delta. This girl had found a chameleon on the side of the road. I suspect that it did was going to have a very brief, much loved life.