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I continued to the next summit and after a short rest, followed the road down into
the valley. I was drenched in perspiration, so I took off my shirt and tied it to the back pan-
nierstodry.Iwasgreetedwithacoolwindwhichpreventedmefromoverheating. Eventu-
ally I made it to the top of the next hill which sat at 1650 metres above sea level. I stopped
in a place called Three Way Corner and bought a lunch consisting of rice and bananas at a
road-side stand. I sat in the shade of a stone church and rested for an hour or so.
At 2:15 p.m. I was on my way again and reached my highest elevation of 1750
metres. From that point, it was mainly downhill with a few short climbs. I passed by a po-
lice checkpoint and eventually made it into Dschang. I received directions to the Catholic
missionwhichwasontopofanotherhillwhereIwaiteduntil8p.m.fortherectortoarrive.
When he did, Father Etienne welcomed me and gave me a place to sleep. I took a buck-
et bath and ate a little something as I wrote in my journal. When I consulted my map, I
was shocked to realize that I only did 45 kilometres! However, even though it was another
physically trying day, I was quite proud of myself that I never lost my cool.
IawokethenextmorningtohavebreakfastwithFatherEtienne.Hegavemeexcel-
lent directions and I found the route to Bafoussam very quickly. The condition of the road
was a breath of fresh air for it was newly graded and its gradient was much more manage-
able. About one kilometre after Dschang, I came across a new and beautiful asphalt road!
I cried tears of joy as I came up to it. I felt re-energized and even though the wind and the
rollinghillsreducedmyspeedconsiderably,Iwastoohappytocare.Irelishedthesmooth-
ness of the tarmac under my tires and was content to travel at the slower pace.
As the morning progressed, my legs started to feel thick and cramped. My desire
to continue to cycle was being lost. However, I did push on until I arrived in Bafoussam
where I came upon St Joseph's Parish. I decided to have lunch in its shade when I met the
rector, Abbé Montse Gilbert. I asked if I could camp and without hesitation, he agreed. I
prepared to go to evening mass but first was invited to have dinner with him. At mass, I
met some of the nicest people one of whom gave me 1000 CFA to buy bananas for myself.
Thenextdayprovedtobeacyclist'sdream.Ihadgreatweather(nottoohot),some
longdescentsandascentsthatwereeasierthantheonesfromthedaybefore.Attimes,Ifelt
like I was surfing a wave for the winding road followed the ridges of the hills. It provided
exciting views which made me anticipate each bend in the road. I stopped at a guesthouse
owned by the Carmelite Sisters in a place called Makénéné between Tonga and Ndikinim-
éki. They made me feel most welcome and served me pasta, meat and a salad. The sisters
told me that the government teachers in fact hadn't been paid for up to 8 months for there
was no money, yet the government did find the money to repaint the football stadium for
an upcoming international match.
The next morning was a cool and sunny autumn day and I felt like I was back in
Toronto.IhadagreatbreakfastandwenttomasswhereIagainmetsomeverynicepeople.
I was invited to the sisters' school to visit a classroom of 24 children. This was my first
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