Cycling The Globe

Distance: 131.3 km
Ride time: 6:57:16
Average: 18.9 km/h
Max speed: 35.3 km/h
Total: 45571 km

I was spending the first 30 minutes of the day riding next to a local cyclist who turned out to be a serious competitor at national levels. In fact my new friend was about to leave for a year on a professional contract in Spain. Sometimes I just love small countries where you run into people like that by chance.

I have sadly forgotten his name, but if a new Namibian talent joins the Tour de France in a couple of years it is probably him. Apart from the morning encounter I didn’t see much civilization on the 130 km towards Otjiwarongo. Not that I felt I needed it – I was fully content with views like this.

At points the road seemed to continue endlessly into the horizon, and the wind was not in my favour. Luckily I had loaded my phone with new pod casts which occupied the mind until the next turn.

I knew I would have to cycle through the hot midday hours to make into town before darkness. When I finally made it I was looking very much forward to a cold drink – I will never be a fan of 40 degree hot water.

My destination of today, Otjiwarongo, seemed both bigger and more developed than I had expected. For some reason I had imaged northern Namibia to be somewhat rough, but that is not really the case – at least not yet. Instead I found myself among a modern shopping mall and fast food restaurants – this could even have been a small town in the US!

My goal was the next days is to rent a car and drive to Etosha National Park!