Position: 04:53.037N 38:08.456E
Yarabella Motel, basically a truckstop a couple of km from the 'metropolis'
of Yarabella!
125km cycled today...started at 2300m and ended on 1605m, but it wasn't all
downhill! Like yesterday lots of long hills and valleys in between.
Ofcourse with that elevation change there were some really nice downhills
too!
The scenery changed quite dramatically from the lush equatorial vegetation,
and relatively dense people coverage, to intially eucalyptist and evergreen
cultivated forested, to then sparse thornbush, on deep red earth, with lots
of huge termite hills everywhere. At the lower elevation it was clear that
water was relatively scarce, unlike the highland area. People population
density reduced dramatically (thankfully!) and just scattered rulral
huts...no more villages and kids tormenting!
After lunch I slipped into racing mode....setting out to catch one of my
fellow participants who had left about 20mins earlier! My character pushed
me almost over the limit, until aftre about 90 mins I finally caught him on
one of the long hills! Then agreed with myself that this was madness and
decided to concentrate on the real thing of exploring and observing, at a
slower pace!
The road condition has deteriorated significantly, with patches of gravel,
and lots of potholes when tar. Traffic has reduced to just the odd
vehicle...all signs of the path ahead to the section from Kenya know
respectfully as 'Meltdown'.
From a bike maintenance point of view...... I have swapped front and rear
tyres as the rear one was starting to look quite bare, while the front was
like new. Unlike all others, since Gondar, I have stuck to my real nobbly
mountain bike tyres, as I like to have the option to go offroad to explore
if the opportunity comes up. My chain worries me a bit... 3 failures in 10
days...but then it has had a hard life with all the desert sand, mud
combined with the hills of ethiopia etc. I have a spare one, but will delay
switching until really necesary. Otherwise the bike seems to holding up
well.
Tomorrow is a rest day, and I will be downloading my memories of Addis and
the past 5 days. Its quite scary how much stimulation each day brings, and
after 5 days one almost needs a rest to reflect and remember.
Trust you enjoy the next newsletter......!
