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)
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| 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
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| 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.
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.
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| Tour de Sinai start - El Gorah |
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| Tour de Sinai - Bedouin peach orchard |
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| Bedouin woman, north Sina |
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| 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.
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| "Woodbo" on his cruiser at Makhtesh Ramon |
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| 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.
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| Makhtesh Ramon, almost at the bottom |
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| 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.
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| Beginning the climb out of Makhtesh Ramon |
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| 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.
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| Yotvata after finishing stage 2 |
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.
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| Pharaoh's Island |
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
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| Tour de Sinai - stage 4 |
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.
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| 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.
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| Tour de Sinai, 1990, final stage, it's all downhill now |
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.
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| 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.
