Cycling The Globe

Distance: 125.94 km
Ridetime: 5:20:15
Average: 23.6 km/h
Total distance: 4251 km

I began the day having a tea and a chat with Ayman, the friendly hotel manager of the place I was staying.

Back on the road I hadn’t gone 25 km before Muhamed waved me down with a friendly “Hello”. Muhamed had been working in Sharm El Sheikh and therefore spoke perfect English. Sitting there in a rural village chatting while sipping tea and watching the donkeys passing by was an almost magical moment.

The 3rd cup of tea I was offered a bit further down the road was perhaps not as pleasant as the first two. I was passing by one of the numerous police checkpoints and was asked for my passport. The officers signaled that I should have a seat and wait.

Communication in English was quite difficult so at first I wasn’t sure what we were waiting for. It turned out that I would need to be escorted by two police men who would follow me in a car for the next 30 kilometers. I knew this was normal practise along certain parts of the Nile, but I didn’t expect it to begin already. Perhaps security has been tightened after the event in Alexandria.

So there I was, cycling through rural villages where kids would yell and wave, and now also followed by a “support” car just like in Tour de France. It was quite a ride.

After 30 km I was finelly let go and could ride the remaining distance into Al Minya in peace.