 |
| Sunrise |
One has to get up early in the morning and get out and ride before it gets too hot now in october. I start biking at 7: 30, 'cause I have to drive Monica to school first. But by 7:30 I go for an hour / hour and half into the bush, but even then temperatures are around +30 in the shade. Fortunately it's often windy here on the plains so it doesn't feel that hot. I hope to be able to get up and out to at. 5:30 - that's when it dawns - and then the temperature is quite comfortably at about 19-20. ...working on this ;-)
 |
| Trail |
 |
| Dirt road |
There are myriads of beautiful trails and dirt roads everywhere, only a few minutes biking from where we live. There aren't many people out in the bush either so I can speed up and ride as fast as I like. I have observed, however, that the only difference between a trail and a dirt road is the width! Otherwise they are quite similar (=bad), with deep traces from the last rainy season, both across and lengthwise. Quite nice to ride now when it is dry, as they consist mostly of hard-packed earth and sand. It will be interesting to see how they become when the rainy season sets in towards the end of November.
 |
| Offroad bikers |
I have met a bunch of offroad cyclists and join them for a ride whenever possible. Bikes are mainly mountain bikes - both hardtails and full-suspension - no street-racers to be seen around here.
I was invited to a premiere opening of a trail-run inside Lilongwe Wildlife Centre game reserve a few weeks ago. Great trail, with good opportunities to meet the wildlife while you ride (or hit a tree if you don't manage the curves). I saw a lot of birds , and some of the others had encountered a herd of bushpigs.
 |
| Close encounter with a rope across the trail |
This day was also the day I had my first bike accident after moving to Malawi: a rope was strung across the trail at head height . The two guys riding in front of me slipped just under the rope while I managed to hit it perfectly with my nose and in return got a deep cut. The rope then slid down my face and wrenched my lower lip downwards. Fortunately at that point the rope snapped, most likely thanks to the combination of my body weight and the high speed - I was riding at about 40 km/h - so the rope did not cope with the pressure! If it hadn't snapped, I would probably have been thrown off the bike, landed on my back and things had most likely been a lot uglier.
Check the picture ... The inside of the lip was the worst although it doesn't show, I could not eat anything but liquids for three days : (
 |
| Sometimes you'll just have to wait a little before riding on |
Last week I was on a morning ride and took a wrong turning somewhere out in the bush and suddenly I found myself way too far out in the country. I met some locals and asked for directions back to Lilongwe (the city), they pointed and smiled and said, "Lilongwe, Lilongwe. So I rode off in the direction they indicateded and came to the Lilongwe River! But with 10 meters high slopes it was impossible to cross, and in addition there are crocodiles there so even if I had found a place to wade across, I would not have risked it. No bridges nearby either, so I rode back following the same trails, and instead of an hour-long morning trip, it was close to 3 hours in the heat of the sun! But I found my way back. Nice trip :-)
 |
| Backpack with water, bike tools, spare tyre and tubes |
I learned one important thing that day: that some people are so keen to help you that they give you the answer they think you will be happy with. Can't rely too much on that you'll get the correct answer all the time, nope. So I carry my GPS with me and trust that the battery will last throughout the ride.
