Stage 1: Cairo to Fanar Du Luna (136 km)

Friday: Woke up early, as breakfast was at 5am, and we had to have our Daily Bags loaded by 6am; then waited to get onto to the bus to the Pyramids at Giza. 

Due to the current security situation in Egypt, three major changes were made to the days festivities:

• No cycling to the Pyramids from the Hotel, so we had to load our bikes onto a truck, and we then made our way there by bus.

• Not allowed to start cycling from the Pyramids, had to be transported out of Cairo into the rural area for approximately 70 km, before we could start.

• No camping in the desert, we had to stay over in a Hotel (no complaints about this were heard from the riders).

Notwithstanding, the official "Start" at the Pyramids, the whole experience seemed quite surreal. Standing at the Great Pyramids, with our bikes at sunrise, having a departure feast (which wasn't really appreciated, as we had already had breakfast at the Hotel) and posing for the official TDA 2017 Group Photo. 

Myself & Judith at the start, in front of Pyramids at Giza.

Great spread of food at the start's 'Bon Voyage feast'.

Once this was completed, we rode down to the Sphinx on our bikes, had the necessary photo shoot of the Sphinx, this was followed by some interaction by the riders with social media, to ensure all and sundry were aware of the great moment. 

The Sphinx

Social Media posting before departing on the grand adventure.

Group photos at the start - all smiles.

Lastly, we loaded our bikes onto the waiting truck and we boarded the bus for our trip out of Cairo. At a suitable site, we disembarked, collected our  bikes and proceeded to get the proverbial show on the road. 

Unfortunately, due the bus rides from Hotel to Pyramids and Pyramids to suitable start position and  associated loading and unloading of bikes, we only started the ride at 10.15am. With 136 km to go, this put a lot of pressure on Judith and I as we are not really built for speed (have plenty of stamina but not so much speed). 

To further increase  the odds against us, we started the ride into a strong headwind which persisted for the rest of the day. 

At the 70km mark we arrived at the Lunch Truck, and discovered that we were the last riders in for lunch. We soon realized that at our current pace we were not going to reach the finish before sunset. Judith then decided to stop at 70km and catch the truck to the finish. This enabled me to join up with  Bridget, who allowed me to draught behind her for the next 66 km to the finish.

We finished the second half with just minutes to spare before sunset turned to darkness.

Judith was waiting for me at the Hotel, having already booked us in and had organised our bags to the room. We then had a well appreciated dinner (a very tasty Spaghetti Bolognese, and as much as you could eat).

Thanks go out to Bridget, who ensured I finished at an average speed of 20km/hr for the 136km ride. And a huge thanks to Judith who gave up her EFI status to make sure that I finished the Stage. Judith was one of a few riders who had to give-up their EFI status. With the late start and nasty headwind, Stage 1 seemed to be a 'baptism by fire' for many of us. 

It was early to bed, with the First Stage finally behind us. 

Cheers, 

Mike T

TDA - Arrival in Cairo

The eight hour flight to Cairo which left on Monday evening was fortunately rather uneventful, and we landed at Cario Airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning. At the Airport we managed to collect our 4x 23kg bags and were ecstatic that our two bike boxes were waiting for us at the odd sized baggage pick-up area.

Ramos the Hotel Representative was at the Airport to welcome us and organised a taxi to transport us with all our luggage and bike boxes to the Cataract Pyramids Resort in the Giza District.

Arrival at Cairo Airport

At the Hotel after booking in, we were greeted by our first TDA Bulletin Board, a daily feature which will be part of our experience for the next four months.

The First of our Daily Bulletin boards

Tuesday was taken up with us unpacking and assembling our bikes, with Leo the Tour Bike Mechanic checking them out to see if they were mechanically sound after their flight to Cairo. Unfortunately the rotor for the front disk brake on Judith's bike was bent rather badly and had to be replaced, but all's well that ends well.

Bike Assembly

In the evening we had an informal "Meet & Greet" where all the riders who had already  arrived in Cairo, met up with each other and all of the TDA Crew over drinks.

On Wednesday we had our first official TDA Briefing Session, where we were officialy introduced to the TDA Crew, and we're briefed and informed about the many aspects of the Tour. There were however two issues I was not in agreement with, these being; Fridges are not there to keep riders beers cold and vehicles are not to be used to buy or collect beer for the riders. It seems other plans will have to be made relating to these issues.

We were also informed, that due to the current political climate in Egypt, it has been decided by the organizers, that all the overnight Desert Camping Sites, are to be replaced by hotel stay overs! Something I am definitely in agreement with. 

The TDA Crew Members at the first of our Briefing Sessions

The rest of the morning was taken up with a trip by taxi to the nearest Bank, to exchange US $ for Egyptian Pounds, as well as purchasing an Egyptian cell phone Sim Card to use for data purposes. 

Wednesday evening was spent at the Pyramids & Sphinx, watching a Light and Laser Show with fellow South Africans, Liz Morris from Cape Town (who is being accompanied in Cairo by her husband Tim) and Kyle, also from Cape Town.

One of the three pyramids of Giza

The Sphinx

So all is well this side. Tomorrow, we start cycling.

Cheers, Mike T