A Replacement Bicycle

Two weeks ago I spent several hours assisting a "friend" shopping for a replacement bicycle.  I am doing my utmost to help her find a bike that suits her riding style and preferences without coercing her to adhere to my opinions on what would be the best bicycle for her.  She is looking for a new bike because both of her bikes were lost in a house fire.  The fire has left her without a ride and thus at seventy three she is looking for a new bicycle.  Fortunately, for her, it was not her house and she only lost the bikes, two westen saddles, and other horse tack.  The house that was lost was her younger sister's, she had been keeping her bikes there so they could ride together for fitness.  Unfortunately her sister lost the entire house and everything she owned except for her vehicles.  The good news is that the sister was able to drag her adult, quadraplegic son from the house with no injuries.

One of the bikes lost was an unsuspended Specialized Hardrock and the other was a full suspension, Fuji Diamond Comp.  The Specialized was the first bicycle she owned since sharing one with siblings.  A bicycle without a chain had been given to her family to be shared amongst the twelve children.  The children rode it by pushing it to the top of a hill and coasting to the bottom.  Sometimes the hill was a slope in the yard, at other times they were on the gravel road before the house.  Her husband and I purchased the Specialized for her on their anniversary in late 1997, teaching her to ride at the age of 57.  This late interest in cycling developed when her husband, also not having owned a bike as an adult, borrowed one of mine to try to get back in shape the year prior.  The bicycle buying spree began when she and I bought him a Specialized coaster bike early in '97, a bicycle which fit him better than my bike did.  The bike purchase for her was so they could spend their exercise time together instead of separately.

She continued to ride after being widowed in 2000, the thought of riding alone did not deter her.  As she gained experience and confidence she increased the difficulty of the terrain onto which she ventured, to include rails to trails routes and fire roads.  In 2004 I rode with her on the lower portion of the Virginia Creeper Trail, we set out from Abingdon, Virginia and rode a few miles.  She took it upon herself to shop for and purchase the Fuji late in 2005 while working in Charlottesville, Va.  She rode that bicycle on rural roads and trails in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

At the head of the Virginia Creeper Rail to Trails

My "friend" is looking for a bike which she can use on rural roads, gravel roads, fire trails, and levee embankments around wildlife preserves.  She has established her price range and defined the terrain she will be riding.  Knowing this leads me to recommend either a hardtail mountain bike or a suspended hybrid bicycle.  If we find a bicycle with a suspension seatpost that would be considered a bonus.  If the bicyle she chooses does not have a suspension seat post I have two in a bin and hopefully one would fit.  Another option would be to purchase a shock post separate from the bicycle.

Purchasing from a shop, as opposed to an online retailer, is our best choice since she is not familiar with the options available and how she would like a particular choice.  In our search we must travel at least 60 miles to find a bicycle shop, two are to the south and more to the north at a greater distance.  The only thing closer are the bicycle sections at various small town Wal-Marts.  Neither she nor I are brand purists, leaving us more options from which to choose.  I guess that could be considered a blessing or a curse.  The choices are narrowed because she prefers not to have a bike with twist/grip shifting.  So far the top contenders are a hybrid by Giant and a mountain bike by Fuji.  In the past she had been strongly against "girl's" bikes but surprised me while we were shopping and expressed a stronger interest in step through frames. I'll let you know how things turn out.

I'm glad I am able to assist my "friend" mom.

Living in Interesting Times

My bicycle commute Saturday encompassed the full spectrum of what could be called interesting times.

I was almost eight miles into the 25 miles to work when the first event began unfolding.  As I was approaching a bridge with significant grade, to allow barge and other large boat traffic, I heard a train sounding its horn behind me.  The river at this point is about a half mile from bank to bank, giving about a quarter mile of both ascent and descent.  While I climbed the bridge the train overtook me, it was out of my sight at this point because the separate bridge for rail traffic is lower than the highway and across the four lanes from me.  By the time I reached the far side of the river the lead engine was at least 100 yards ahead.  My speed was slowly decreasing when I pulled even with the engineer's window.  I was down to 22 mph when I finally edged ahead of the engine.  The train passed me back as I slowed due to the road beginning to ascend.  I caught it again in a half mile as the train made its way through the switch yard. Six miles down the road it overtook me and within a mile the rails split away from the roadway and I saw it no more.  That was an exhilarating portion of my ride.

photo modified from original by Simon Tong, CC-by-nc-sa si.smugmug@gmail.com

The four lane highway has no shoulder for over eight miles beginning at the river.  During the interlude while the train was in the distance behind me I spun along doing my best to keep my speed up.  I was coming down a short hill with a grade of about 3% where the road then extended straight and clear of obstructions for almost two miles, this stretch ended with a climb in the last quarter mile.  As I reached the long level section a car passed me with the three feet of clearance the law requires, but this was only three feet if I am being generous in gauging the distance between us.  The close pass aggravated me because the other lane going our direction was completely clear for a long distance behind us.  My guess is the driver justified it because he was making a right turn a half mile after passing me.

I made the remainder of the ride to the drop-zone without further incident, good or bad.

The ride home started before dusk but ended about 45 minutes after sunset.  On the home side of the river my route consisted of 3.5 miles on the same highway, it narrowed to two lanes coming off of the bridge, and ended with 4.5 miles on rural roads and lanes.  In the stretch of two lane highway I had multiple encounters with the drivers that all bicycle commuters regularly meet, the type that honk their horns or shout at you as they pass, even when they had not been forced to slow.  The most vocal that evening passed me while I was on an impromptu shoulder created by the parking areas of abandoned buildings.  Oh well...

Just after turning onto the rural roads I had my routine sprint to elude the big mean dog.  I never saw him during the first two months of using this route, only his small companion.  I would see the small terrier in my headlight cutting the corner to catch me and barking with a yippy sound as he ran.  I would also hear something heavy charging out to the road but didn't see the source.  Those first two months were September and October and I passed this point of my commute either before sunrise or after sunset.  Once we entered standard time I began seeing the big guy in the mornings, and on a few evenings when skydiving ended early due to cloud cover and I started home early.  I am now quite accustomed to seeing the large Rottweiler within five feet of my right ankle.

It was early in the commute home that the incident which allows today to be filed under the *May you live in interesting times* header.  I was less than two miles from the drop-zone going down a slight grade on the shoulder-less connector road between two county highways when I heard the vehicle approaching from behind.  The driver of the truck said it was an accident, he said "I didn't see you."  I believe him.  It was that time of evening when the sun is low on the horizon and glare can be incredible.  The sun was about 20 degrees to the right of the roadway, putting it close to the angle the driver would be looking in order to see me.  He said he was looking straight down the center of the lane and having a hard time seeing due to the sun.

As a pedestrian I have been struck down from behind by a vehicle when leaving a MLS game as a college student.  Before Saturday I have had many close calls with automobiles but had never been struck.  I am glad the four wheel drive pickup had those large hinged side mirrors instead of the fixed mirrors on brackets used to see around stock trailers.  The mirror hit me in the lumbar area over the left kidney and folded in against the passenger window.  I maintained my balance and held my line, never swerving further into the roadway nor off the pavement.  (The guys I once rode with in California would be proud.)  The driver didn't come to a stop for well over 100 feet, more than enough time for me to release an expletive in the belief that he was not going to stop.

He did stop and we talked for a bit.  I believe he was more shaken up than I was.  At the time I didn't think I had suffered any significant injury.  So far there is no bruising and I have no observed no hematuria. There is not even any pain.  *Interesting times* indeed, but I was very blessed in the outcome of the incident.

DECISIONS

Cycling, like life, is full of choices.  Thanksgiving morning I went for a 24 mile bicycle ride to house of my niece and nephew.  About a mile and a half from my house I had a decision to make, which road to take.  It boiled down to playing it safe or going for a little adventure, stay with the known or proceed into the unknown.

I could stay on the road I was on and in a couple of miles it would feed into a mostly straight highway with wide shoulders.   This route, the safe one, would leave me well clear of traffic for half of my ride.  The other choice was to take roads I had never travelled before.  These were narrow rural roads and I knew they would have no shoulders, being barely wide for two cars to pass if their outside tires were in the grass.  The condition of the surface would be very questionable.


I took the one less traveled by




The Road Not Taken


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost



As it turns out, the narrow roads were in pretty good condition and very scenic. An added bonus were the wonderful smells created by the cooks in all of the houses close to the road.  Next time I can add a little speed by not slowing on the downhill corners that are not at intersections.

Don't be fettered by unfounded fears.

Tour de Sinai

A Sweet Bicycle Journey Through Arid Lands

or

Just Deserts

On 18 May 1990 sixteen of us set out from El Gorah in the north west corner of the Sinai Peninsula on bicycles; trekking through deserts, across international borders, and down escarpments to reach our destination south of Sharm-el-Sheikh.  We arrived on the fifth day of peddling having ridden almost 350 miles, some of us were in a ragged state.  We biked, but you could say we baked.  This was the second iteration of the Tour de Sinai, the first was in 1985.  

(click to enlarge pictures and view them in an album)

free range camels

Our group consisted of soldiers, both officer and enlisted, assigned to the Multinational Force and Observers.  Even though the MFO is made of soldiers from twelve nations (eleven at that time) and civilians, all of the participants in the Tour de Sinai were active duty US Army personnel.  Most of us were here for twelve month and assigned to the Logistical Support Battalion with varying amounts of time remaining on our tours.  I had six more weeks before I returned to the US.  A few of the group were assigned to the USBATT and had less than a month remaining of their four month tour.  Sixteen of the group were riding and six were medical and logistical support.

The composition of the peloton was diverse.  We had infantry and quarter master officers, supply clerks, medics, a physician, finance clerks, a veterinarian, personnel staff, etc.  In the same way our individual fitness, cycling experience, and equipment varied greatly.  We had dedicated runners, others who did the minimum the army required, we even had a few Cat 3 racers on the trip.  Training on our bicycles was very limited because we could not venture off of our bases on the bicycles, thus being limited to the perimeter road of a one square mile installation.   Myself and others counted on our base of running miles to see us through.  The Cat 3s were from the USBATT and they brought their bicycles with them.  A couple of the others brought entry or enthusiast level road bikes with them from the US.  Several made a trip to Israel to purchase road bicycles.  I was at the low end of the equipment ladder.  I bought a poorly sized Huffy mountain bike at our base mini-mart for $120.  This was my first bicycle since I was in my early teens.  The true he-man of the group was "Woodbo" on a single speed cruiser with coaster brakes.

Riders and Support Crew

              Becky Burns                                                     DJLA                                                         Kevbo The Wildman
              "Big D" Wahl                                                   Frank Kennedy                                       Linda Cleofe Santiago
              "Big Ed" Stud Muffin                                      Ivan Ovalle                                              Reiley Watson
              Brady                                                                 Joe Lynch                                                 Richie Rich
              Brent Jones                                                     John Wardlaw                                        Steve Gibson
              Chuck Hendrick                                             Jose Munoz                                             "Woodbo"
              "D D"                                                                 Ken Gilluly

Tour de Sinai, 1990 group photo at Mitzpe Ramon, Israel

The planning for this ride began a couple of months before the event.  This planning went beyond arranging for lodging and a support crew.  The guys doing the planning had the expected items to hold in consideration; support vehicles, water, other drinks, food, refrigeration concerns, housing, support crew, and such.  None of the above is insignificant and I don't envy the doing this type of planning for the first time.  The most troublesome detail for our organizers would have been route planning.  The trouble did not come choosing which roads to take, there are very few options in the desert.  There were few limitations on picking SAG stops, they simply needed to avoid placing any near military installations.  Otherwise SAG stops really amounted to a place in the road with a wide shoulder, there was not going to be any with shade available.  Because ours was a point to point ride, the organizers also had to plan for transportation of bicycles and crew back after the event.

The irksome part of planning the route involved two sections of road less than 100 yards each in length, one on the first day and the other on the third.  Both of these involved crossing an international border.  Routine traffic at these points would require passports, visas, and possibly other ID.  Because of our role in the peacekeeping force we needed passports, military ID, MFO ID, border clearance from our local headquarters, clearance from our liaison in Cairo, clearance from from our liaison in Tel Aviv, Egyptian border security approval, and probably some other clearances.  The troublesome nature of these crossings is still apparent today, try plotting this route in Google Maps and then get directions.   The route and distance for Stage 1 is interrupted at the northern border crossing because Maps will not plot through the Gaza Strip, resulting in a bit of estimation in this part of the map and distance.

Stage Descriptions

Stage 1  -  18 May  -  94 miles  -  El Gorah, Sinai, Egypt to Mitspe Ramon, Israel
Stage 2  -  19 May  -  67 miles  -  Mitspe Ramon, Israel to Yotvata, Israel
Stage 3  -  20 May  -  52 miles  -  Yotvata, Israel to SallyLand Resort, Sinai, Egypt
Stage 4  -  21 May  -  67 miles  -  SallyLand Resort, Sinai, Egypt to Dahab, Sinai, Egypt
Stage 5  -  22 May  -  69 miles  -  Dahab, Sinai, Egypt to south of Sharm el Sheikh, Sinai, Egypt

View Tour de Sinai 1990 in a larger map

Stage One

El Gorah, Sinai, Egypt to Mitspe Ramon, Israel - 94 miles

A combination of factors dictated that the first day was to be the longest day in mileage and subsequently in time.  To accommodate this the organizers planned for an early start, just is seen with many century or longer rides.  We met for a pre-dawn group breakfast, loaded our gear on one of the support vehicles and were en-route before 0800 hours.   There was no problem at all on rolling out on schedule, it must have been due to this being later than we were normally in formation for PT.  The plan was to stay in a group for the first twenty miles, that is until after we had crossed over the border at Rafah and exited Gaza.  Our adherence to the time table didn't last much longer than an hour and a half into that first day, for that was when we encountered the Egyptian border bureaucracy. 

Our organizers had done an excellent job preparing for the border crossing.  Appropriate passes, documents and crossing permits had been coordinated and obtained weeks beforehand with the Egyptian and Israeli governments.  I crossed through this border point several times a month in the course of my duties, the majority of my work was in Israel.  Even though my routine passages were as an individual or with one other soldier, it rarely took more than thirty minutes to go from one country to the other.  As a side note, I never spent as much effort coordinating my travel as the Tour de Sinai organizers did for this day.  It was not unusual for the peacekeeping unit to send a tour bus of soldiers through here every six weeks or so on a Holy-land tour.  It would take as much as ninety minutes to pass the tour buses through, and that was on days when the border was busy.

We took our personal bags off of the truck and carried it through individually so that every one was accountable for their own gear and to keep all as close to routine as possible.  It took more than 3 hours for us to cross into Israel at Rafah that morning.    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.  That is riding up to the border on bicycles.  I think someone was upset at not getting the baksheesh they wanted.

   

Tour de Sinai start - El Gorah

Tour de Sinai - Bedouin peach orchard

Bedouin woman, north Sina

Rafah border crossing, Gaza

The recorded high temperature in the Negev Desert for May is 108 degrees F.  and it is not uncommon for temperatures to reach the 90s.  Physical exertion combined with these temperatures can readily lead to hat problems in this environment.  Both vehicles were being used to provide water, fruit drinks, and soft drinks to the riders.  The plan was that after we cleared the border one truck would go to the front and set up a SAG stop about 15 miles down the road.  A second truck would trail behind with additional food and drink.  Also trailing was a fifteen passenger van to act as a broom wagon.  If anybody abandoned their bicycle would go in the trailing truck.  When the trailing truck reached the SAG stop it would then leap frog ahead to set up the next SAG.

The thought was that this plan would work well, however it did not account for the disparities in riding speed and the distances this caused between the lead riders and the last riders.  When the follow truck reached the front it immediately set up a SAG for the leading CAT 3s.  Because this trio was so far ahead of the last of us, the SAG crew knew that if they waited until the other truck reached it to bound ahead the leaders would have been without support for several hours.  So, after taking care of the lead few they waited in place for a while and then jumped ahead again.  None of the rest of us realized this was happening.

Meanwhile at the back of the pack:  Leaving the border I paced myself and was with the last of the group.  We reached that first SAG stop and refilled bottles and ate a little before rolling out.  In the next few miles I pulled ahead of  this pair.  Within ten miles I overtook two riders who had consumed all of their water.  I passed off a full bottle, keeping a partial bottle for myself.  Because of the extended border delay it was now early afternoon, probably a little after two o'clock, and I was biking in the Negev Desert in May.  I've had people tell me that even though it was hot, it could not be that bad because it was a dry heat.  My thought is that my oven is also a dry heat, but I'm not going to say it is not without danger to climb in.  There is a reason people die crossing deserts.  All this time the broom wagon and the other support vehicle continued to stay behind the rear riders.  I continued trudging ahead at a decent pace until my quads began cramping from dehydration about fifteen miles from the finish.  For the next ten miles I alternated stretching on the bicycle and stopping for a few minutes to stretch.  Three miles from the finish, at the base of a climb, I took shelter from the sun beneath a concrete shelter built as a bus stop.  It was not the first to be seen in the middle of nowhere.  

More than an hour later the two vehicles made it to my resting point.  They were trailing "Woodbo" on his cruiser.  Three other riders had previously called it quits and were in the van.  I immediately downed a 1.5 liter bottle of water fast and then drank another bottle of the same size over the next thirty minutes.  I then climbed back on the bicycle and started up the 7% slope at whose base I had stopped.  "Woodbo" had started a couple of minutes before I did.  In less than fifty meters my quads started cramping again, prompting me to come off my saddle and straddle the bicycle.  I started pushing the bike up the hill in hopes of working past this.  I must have appeared comical to the people in the vehicles as I tried walking as stiff legged as any caricature of Frankenstein's monster.  The medical team ended my hopes of making it up the hill.  They refused to allow me to continue, not believing I would recover adequately.  Less than two hundred yards ahead "Woodbo" crashed when he cramped up.

That evening I drank three of those 1.5 liter bottles in addition to the fruit juice and kool-aid type drink.  I kept another bottle on the night stand by my bed and drank most of it during the course of the night.  Finally by morning I was having to get rid of a little liquid.  

Stage Two

Mitzpe Ramon, Israel to Yotvata, Israel - 67 Miles

We spent that first night at a kibbutz in the town of Mitzpe Ramon located on the lip of  Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater).  A makhtesh is neither an impact nor a volcanic crater, it is an erosion cirque with limited vegetation and soil.  This one is over 1,600 feet deep.  During breakfast a group meeting was held with the primary point of discussion being movement of the vehicles to ensure no one was left stranded in limbo as had happened the previous day.  The meeting concluded with a standard safety briefing regarding heat, water intake, traffic, poisonous snakes and insects, etc.   Just prior to rolling out we went to the lip of the crater for group and individual photos.  The drop off behind and to our left is well over 1,ooo feet.  Several of us stood within 3 feet of the edge.  The one expressing the most concern due to his fear of heights was a former paratrooper with over 200 jumps.

"Woodbo" on his cruiser at Makhtesh Ramon

Me at Makhtesh Ramon, three steps from the bottom

The view was spectacular and its impact is difficult to convey.   Looking over the edge, for those of us who did, served to excite us for the descent to the floor.  That was an exhilarating ride for me since, I had no similar rides as a child with which to compare.  Some of the others came closer to calling in terrifying.  

Makhtesh Ramon, almost at the bottom

Me reaching the bottom of Makhtesh Ramon

One way to describe much of the landscape seen during the tour would be as stark. and it was.  If you allow yourself to see, you can find a lot of beauty here.  The best times to see the beauty of the desert is the same as a photographer's golden hours, these being the first hour after sunrise and the last before sunset.  Another time which will yield vibrant, saturated colors is just after a rain.  There was no rain during our days on this trip.  This area of the Negev receives less than three inches a year.  Areas of the southern Sinai through which we rode receive less than one inch.  

On this day and those thereafter 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 not 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 more than a liter an hour after dismounting. 

We reached Yotvata early, at least compared to our finish of the previous day.  You may catch me spelling place names inconsistently.  I noticed while in the Mid-East that the name for a given place will be spelled in varying way.  Mitzpe Ramon is sometimes seen written as Mitspe Ramon.  Yotvata may be seen spelled as Yot Vata.  There was one city with a four letter name saw spelled four different ways on the official highway signs leading to the city.  I imagine this is due to the influences of the many languages that have held sway here; Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, English, and French.

Beginning the climb out of Makhtesh Ramon

Staying Hydrated in the Negev

Stage Three

Yotvata, Israel to SallyLand Resort, Sinai, Egypt - 52 Miles

Yotvata is a small community centered around another kibbutz.  Even today, twenty years after our Tour de Sinai, there are still less than a thousand residents.  I awoke here the morning of the third stage with a throbbing and swollen knee.  The joint capsule was distended and warm to the touch, water on the knee if you prefer.  I spent the entire morning thinking I would abandon within the next quarter mile.  

Yotvata after finishing stage 2

The important lesson I learned this day was that it is essential to have 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 its seatpost was too short to extend adequately for someone with a 36" inseam.  As a result I limped for over a month and was still in some pain two months after the end of the ride.  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. The bike was unsuspended but that did not matter, in fact it would be a couple of years before front suspension forks would become readily available.  What mattered was that it was heavy and, most importantly, way too small. 

Within twenty-five miles we had reached Eilat, Israel's southern most city, and within view of the Gulf of Aqaba.  We regrouped to go less than five miles to the border city of Taba, sometimes spelled Tabga.  Crossing back into the Egypt was swift and painless.  We were back in the Sinai in significantly less than an hour.

Pharaoh's Island

The most striking ancient ruin we saw during the Tour de Sinai was Pharaoh's Island.  It is a small island just off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula at the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba. Crusaders built a citadel here at the beginning of the 12th century and deserted it by 1116.  Saladin conquered the island and rebuilt the citadel in 1170.  

This was our shortest day in mileage and probably time since the border delay was not tremendous.  We reached Sally Land Resort fairly early and relaxed in preparation for the next day.  This was a resort in name only, the accommodations were closer to being a youth hostel.  Google Maps gave me a location for the resort which corresponds to my t-shirt map reasonably well.  When I zoomed on the indicated location nothing was present.  It must have met its demise prior to the satellite view being updated.

Stage Four

SallyLand Resort, Sinai, Egypt to Dahab, Sinai, Egypt - 67 Miles

Tour de Sinai - stage 4

The only scenery worth noting on this day was the color of the water above the coast's fringe reef.  There were many gorgeous shades of blue and turquoise to be seen.

In the last half of this days ride was a longer hill of sufficient grade to wear us down.  In truth it was not that long, but the combination of length and slope had lead the truck drivers of the peacekeeping force to give it the name of "Thirteen Mile Hill."  Quite a few of us were slaloming from across the lane/road in order to decrease the effective grade of the climb.  The downfall with this tactic is that it increases the distance you must pedal corresponding to how often you slalom.  I quickly learned that the inside arc of an uphill curve may be shorter than an outside line but taking it may increase your time more than the longer line due to the steeper pitch.  A brief incident of humor occurred on this hill, I refer to it as an Arte Johnson moment.  One of the women, to remain nameless to protect the innocent and shield me from retribution, was going up a straight stretch without slaloming and had not noticed that she was at a very slow crawl.  One moment she was upright and headed up the hill and then the next moment she fell sideways to land on her right shoulder.  She quickly jumped up and looked around to see if anyone had noticed.  I referred to this as an Arte Johnson moment in tribute to a  recurring sketch on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In where an unnamed adult wearing a yellow rain coat and hat is riding a tricycle tips over and falls.  

Youth hostel at Dahab, Sinai

This day ended at Dahab, a well known scuba diving destination, even twenty years ago.  One of the better known dive sites is the Blue Hole, nicknamed as both "World's Most Dangerous Dive Site" and "Diver's Cemetery."  A recent look at several travel related web sites confirmed my impression of the city's culture.  It had  the look, feel, and atmosphere of a hippie hangout.  This was reinforced by the clothing, music, and appearance of everyone we encountered.  The resort hotels to now be found had yet to be built.  After checking into our hostel in Asalah, a Bedouin village, we cleaned up and wandered down to an open air restaurant for fresh fish and old time rock, all for less than a couple of dollars.  The hostel cost less than $2.oo each for a small plywood and reed hut with either six or eight of us in it.  Extra trundle beds were placed in the space, it was so crowded that if your bed was not the one by the door, you crawled across the beds until you reached yours.  Take a look at the photo and you will see why it is good for tourism that there is almost no rain each year.  

A gear and equipment check before starting the next stage brought to light a damaged bicycle.  "Woodbo" must have gained a little more speed on one of his descents than he was comfortable with.  It was probably either the backside of "Thirteen Mile Hill" or the drop into Makhtesh Ramon.  His right chain stay and a definite bend near the coaster brake attachment.  At the angle is was displaced by more than an inch.  He elected to finish with the rest of us on the last day.  We were past the steepest and longest of the hills.

Stage 5

Dahab, Sinai, Egypt to south of Sharm el Sheikh, Sinai, Egypt - 69 Miles

Even though this was the second longest ride of the tour, it seemed to be all down hill to our base south of Sharm el-Sheikh.  We were joyous and the miles passed rapidly.  

Tour de Sinai, 1990, final stage, it's all downhill now

As we passed Sharm we could see some of the early international hotels under construction.  The quality of the block work, brick laying and masonry, was definitely not up to the standard I would have expected.  But then, plaster and paint can gloss over a multitude of flaws.  That evening we all basked in and enjoyed our first long. hot showers since leaving El Gorah.  You can rest assured there was some celebrating among our groups that evening.  

The next morning saw the sun rising over the Tiran and Sanafir Islands in the Straits of Tiran just off of the Saudi Arabian coast.  We all arose to embark on new adventures.  I stayed at South Camp for another week to become scuba certified plus make a couple of extra dives.  

Sunrise over the Straits of Tiran

A sad coda was attached to our ride journal a couple of weeks later.  Two of the Cat 3s, lieutenants in the USBATT,  were in a small group who attempted a bounce dive hoping to descend past 300 feet.  Their bodies were never recovered.

The Scent of A Bike Ride

I had only ridden once in the past 4 days due to some travelling to visit family over 600 miles away. Upon arriving home I went for a ride because that one ride had left me at four miles less than 2000 for the year. I rolled out from the house after 11:00 pm because I felt restless due to missing riding those days and a desire to reach that 2000 mile goal two weeks early. An incident near the end of the ride helped to coalesce thoughts which had been forming over the past three weeks.

I have found there is much to enjoy on a bicycle ride. It is not at all uncommon for a bicyclist to carry the additional weight of a camera in order to capture memories of the ride so the enjoyment can be relived and also shared with others. It is especially true now that one device can serve as bicycle computer, camera, phone, and GPS.

Part of the magnificence of a bicycle tour, whether it is four days or four weeks, is the various wonders in this world to be seen. The different vistas which you come upon can be inspiring. On my only multi-day tour to date I was able to enjoy a variety of landscapes. On that ride we climbed mountains, descended escarpments, rode along coastlines, looked down on medieval castles, and cruised desert wadis; to name a few of the sights. It is not necessary to be on a multi-day ride to enjoy the world around you. There are many memorable sights within a short distance of where you are. Open yourself to the wonderment which surrounds you and you will be continuously creating memories worth revisiting. A camera helps you share these memories with others in a fashion which will bring them to vivid life.

Not all sights seen are on the scale of panoramic vistas and buildings. It is common to see animals when bicycling, even if your cycling is confined to roads you will notice that animal life abounds. It can be the annoyance of swarms of bugs near dusk. It can be the majestic strutting of a tom turkey. Like many, I frequently see deer along the roadways. I have had to brake to avoid both deer startled into running across the road and turkeys flying across the road ahead of me. Smaller species of wildlife and domestic animals are commonly seen: raccoons, possums, raptors, cats, dogs, etc. Something I really enjoy seeing are the hundreds of fireflies putting on an unsynchronized light show in several of the fields near my abode as I return home at night. Some of the animal sightings occur too rapidly and unexpectedly to bring a camera to bear, others are in poor lighting and not conducive to good photographs. Nevertheless, images of animals seen can be frequently captured. The incident mentioned in the opening paragraph involved seeing a beautifully marked animal crossing the road as I cycled past.

Some memories you would just as soon not capture, they would in fact be best forgotten. Negative interactions with people are unfortunately not uncommon when cycling. Motorists can be aggressive and threatening to cyclists, along with the other occupants of a vehicle. I've had people in their yards, individuals whom I have never before interacted with, start cursing at me as I pass at a distance of 120 feet from them. Regardless of those occurrences, people still bring a smile to my face through very simple interactions. Several times last week, while on errands and then on a evening intro ride for new cyclists, this occurred when children shouted to gain my/our attention and then bounced up and down as they waved, grinned, cheered, and generally encouraged us. I always wish to recall this type of interaction with people.

Not every memory created on a bicycle ride can be captured with a camera because not all memories are visual or auditory. The camera's video mode could capture the audible impressions. I would not depend on a adequate quality in audio capture from either phones or point and shoot cameras to do more than focus your own memories. I especially would not expect sound recorded on a phone or camera to do much in helping others enjoy your memory vicariously.

Scents are a specific type of memory which can not be captured at this point in time. For as long as I can remember, it has been stated that scents are one of the strongest triggers to memory recall. Each of us have scents which will take us back instantly and accurately to our past. It could be the smell of gardenias or jasmine reminding you of your grandmother because of the perfume she used. For me fresh turned earth takes me back to my teen and college years due to growing up in a farm community and working in fields belonging to neighbors or the university. Likewise the smell of hay drying in the summer sun carries me back, as does corn tasselling when it is pollinating.

Other smells detected on a bicycle ride may not bring back a particular memory yet are familiar due to repeatedly encountering them or their ubiquitousness in life. I often detect these types of smells from houses in neighborhoods through which I pass or from cars on the road. These scents can be mundane or alluring; perfume, cigarettes, pot, dryer sheets, etc. This brings me back to my incident at the end of last nights ride. It involved sight and scents, the same scent that started some of these thoughts to brewing three weeks ago. The animal I saw crossing the road was beautifully and boldly marked. It scurried with a waddling gait to get out of traffic and was about two and a half lanes over from me and headed towards the other side of the road. I hope the most vivid memory of this species remains to be that sight. I never want its scent to become more intimate as a trigger to memories than simply a hint that a member of the species had been startled at that location sometime earlier in the day.

Not a Near Miss

In comments to a post regarding near misses while cycling on the road a few of us discussed almost being being hit by whitetail deer. My close call was by a buck, as was one other's I think. A really huge buck may go over 300 pounds.

The collision could result in significant injury to the cyclist, if not him and the deer. Consider that the cyclist may be going 20+ mph and that deer can sprint up to 30 mph when fleeing predators.  (I have been over 50mph a number of times while going downhill. Professional riders can surpass 60 mph)   These types of hits carry more force than the most vicious NFL tackle. Remember, cyclists and deer do not wear padding. Linemen are larger than a big deer, but they are going much slower. Safeties are going faster than the linemen, though not as fast as the deer, but their weight is about the same as the biggest bucks. We will not factor in the damage from antlers. Even hitting a small deer, 100 pounds, would hurt.

To be hit by a running eland could be deadly.  Even hits by linebackers and whitetail deer have killed._ Female adult elands weigh up to 600kg and males can reach 1000kg. That's the size of a small car. Their speed is less than a whitetail deer, reportedly from 15 to 25 mph. (One wiki page said they can reach 43 mph.)

Please be considerate and share the road.

Not In The Gutter

Many motorists are unclear about where a cyclist should be positioned on the road. Yes, on the road. Most states have laws requiring adults on bicycles to stay off of the sidewalks. I've lived in states where the age to be on the sidewalk is less than 15, other states I've lived in set the upper limit at 11. 

I recall once when I was in my roommate's car as a passenger and he displayed real stupidity. We lived in a college city had many marked bicycle lanes. The incident in question involved a mother and her daughter in the bike lane and he was shouting at them to get on the sidewalk. The lanes were marked with large cycling symbols and had lines dividing them from traffic. It is not as if he was unaware of the prevalance of cyclists in town. He was a intern at the veterinary college and I was doing post-doc work. There were a lot of bicycles on that campus. I rode to campus by bicycle every day. My girlfriend and I rode on the weekends and some evenings. She and I did several metric centuries on a tandem. He was from New York City, but I don't think that explains his attitude. 

The state in which I currently live has statutes that say cyclists should ride as far to the right as is practical. Other states word their laws to say as far to the right as is safe. Neither means in the gutter with your pedals striking the curb. Unless there is a significant shoulder, I usually ride in the lane. This has seemed to be much safer than being half in and half out of the lane. When I rode with my wheels on the white line at the edge of the road automobiles were much more likely to brush by very closely.

I've lived in eight states as an adult. In all of them, bicyclists are to obey the same rules of the road as motor vehicles. Just as we are expected to stop at traffic signs and signals, we are required to obey the rest of the traffic laws. The short explanation on the correct place for a cyclist to be in traffic is in the right most lane from which a motor vehicle would be proceeding in the same direction. The following clarifications are for locales that drive on the right side of the road, right as in dexter not as in correct.

If I am making a left turn on a multi-lane road I have two options. It is correct and appropriate for a cyclist to be in the left most lane, or left turn lane if one is present, and make her turn when traffic and/or signals permit. If there are more than one left turn lanes, be in the outside (right) one. What I see some bicyclists do is cross the intersection, stop at the corner and proceed to the left when the signals permit. Sometimes this may be the safest thing to do. 

If I am going straight at an intersection where there is a right turn lane I do not ride at the edge of the road. To do so would be inviting injury or death, not to mention be against the law. The correct place for a cyclist at such an intersection would be in the right most lane that is going straight ahead. At a crossing with two right turn lanes, with the inner one offering a turn or straight option, you would ride in it because it is the right most lane going ahead. As the video shows, it is not only US motorists who do not apply logic and law to their opinions on where a cyclist should ride.