In May of 1990 sixteen of us started from El Gorah in the northern region of the Sinai Peninsula and trekked 342 miles through desert to reach our destination south of Sharm-el-Sheikh four and a half days later.
Of those days, the first was the longest at about 92 miles, taking us from the Sinai Desert, through the margins of the Gaza Strip and into the heart of the Negev Desert. It was not only mileage which contributed to the length of the day. It took almost 3 hours for us to cross into Israel at Rafah that first morning. Appropriate passes, documents and crossing permits had been coordinated and obtained weeks beforehand with the Egyptian and Israeli governments. All it takes to negate prior planning is for one minor functionary to to object because he had never allowed people to cross in that manner before.
Google Maps would not allow me to plot a route crossing this particular international border, go figure. The start, overnight stops and finish of our tour are marked on the linked map.
The month of May can see temperatures go over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and heat can readily become a problem in this environment. Several of us experienced dehydration issues on the first day. Two water bottles in three hours will not suffice in that heat at that exertion level. It is not that we were neglecting to drink. The border delay took us from completing the majority of that day's ride in the relatively cooler morning and forced us into the position of riding through the hottest part of the day. Also, there was a period of almost four hours where some of us did not see the support teams. Lack of experience on the part of personnel in our two support vehicles combined with the disparity in the abilities of our group stretched us out over many miles. Our group ranged from some who were USCF licensed racers down to others who had not only not been on a bicycle as an adult but were not exceptionally fit in any estimation.
On subsequent days I was drinking a minimum of two and a half liters of water each hour I was on the bicycle. I had no cramps from dehydration on these days. However, it was easy to tell I was barely staying ahead of the curve. Even with all of that intake there was no output until I had been off of the bicycle for hours, and that depended on me continuing to drink a liter an hour after dismounting.
One very important lesson learned was that it is essential to have the correctly fitted equipment. I was on a $120 Huffy mountain bike which I purchased within the preceding month. The frame was at least four inches too small and it's seatpost was also on the short side, at least for someone 6' 3" tall. This lead to knee problems by the start of the third day. I healed within two months. :-} I brought that bicycle back to the states with me and later added six inches to the seat post. This allowed me to get almost enough leg extension. Another thing with cheap bicycles is that they tend to belong in the behemoth weight class.
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