Senegal - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 101

Ah…the joy of having cool morning air rush through my hair. I was elated to be
backcycling. Istarted atacasual paceforitwasaweeksinceIwasonthebike.Ataspeed
of 20 km/h (according to my Cat-eye computer) and the benefit of great roads, I quickly
established a rhythm and turned my attention to the scenery. This time, I felt as if I was
cyclingthoughawell-maintainedgolfcourse.Thelandwasawashingreenwithslightdips
in the terrain and trees clustered on the low-lying hills.
Coming from behind, I heard the sound of a motorcycle. I quickly glanced over
my shoulder and to my surprise saw a foreigner at the helm. The Dutch traveller pulled up
beside me and we exchanged a few pleasantries. He quickly bid me farewell (I think my
slow pace was driving him crazy) and sped off… bastard. Actually, I didn't envy him. I
was quite content in my slow pace of having Senegal unfold before me. I finally arrived in
Tambacounda at 4:15 p.m. By 4:30, I found the Salesian school and was given permission
to sleep in a vacant classroom. Looking at my map that evening, I realized that I managed
131 kilometres and was quite pleased with myself for it was the first day back since my
illness.
Intheclassroom,IplannedmycyclingforthenextfewdaystotheGuineanborder.
I had a suspicion that the next bank I would find would be well into Guinea (like the town
of Labé). So, I spent most of my remaining CFA on non-perishable food to store on the
bike just as a precaution. I hoped that when I arrived in Labé, I would be able to cash in a
traveler's cheque for Guinean francs. That evening, I was invited to dinner after mass with
the Salesian priest. He warned me about the difficulty in crossing the border- not the bur-
eaucracybuttheroaditself.Itriedmybesttomentallypreparemyselffortheverydifficult
terrain that would be in store for me in the next couple of days.