Gabon - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 183

My speed quadrupled and with such an excellent road and virtually no traffic, I
flew through the next 60 kilometres. The views of the trees along the river reminded me of
cycling along Toronto's Humber River in early autumn. Since I was in the area where the
equator crossed the road, I slowed down considerably hoping to find some kind of mark-
er to commemorate this important geographical position. I couldn't see one. I later asked
some locals if there was a monument and they told me that there was but that the rainforest
had reclaimed the area and sadly, it wasn't visible from the road anymore. Fortunately, I
decided to take a picture of the area anyway and this is what the 0º latitude looked like:
When I arrived in the village of Ndjole, about 87 kilometres from where I started
in the morning, I decided to stop for the day. I booked myself into Auberge de St. Jean, a
really nice hotel where my room and dinner came to 15,000 CFA. After my meal, I sat in
the dining room to write in my journal. Without question, the highlight for me on this day
was for the first time in my life, I crossed over into the southern hemisphere on a bicycle.
I slept very poorly for my lower legs were itchy the whole night. I woke up at
6:00 a.m. and had breakfast. Shortly after leaving the hotel, the asphalt road ended and the
gravel road began. I decided to stop and oil my squeaky chain before continuing on the
gravel road. To access the remaining oil from my depressurized spray can, I punctured it
and aimed the opening over my chain as I back-pedalled. Unfortunately, the ground was
the recipient of the all the oil for I missed the chain completely. So with a squeaky chain, I
headed to Bifoun keeping an eye out for an auto shop.
My pace for the day varied. The first 30 kilometres were slow because the gravel
road was uneven and stretches of it were filled with climbs and descents. I stopped only
once to take a photo and then quickly resumed cycling. The next 30 kilometres had much
fewer hills and my pace quickened. I arrived in Bifoun at 12:45 p.m. and rewarded myself
with a large Coke to wash down my lunch. I bought some staple food as provisions and
started to head out of the town. Just before I left the town limits, I spotted an “auto shop”