Gabon - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 184

andaskedthemechanicforsomeoilforthechain.Hereturnedwithalargeglassbottleand
as I back-pedalled, he applied a cap full of oil at a time. When I asked him for the cost, he
told me not to worry about it. I thanked him and was on my way.
I set an ambitious goal to arrive in Lambaréné by late afternoon which was 71 kilo-
metres away. Since the road was in excellent condition and quite flat, my speed was very
fast and the first time I asked a stranger how far it was, I was told that I had 46 kilometres
left. I was quite pleased that I completed about 25 kilometres in my first hour and a bit.
A Man's Best Friend?
To keep me motivated in maintaining my speed, I had the help from many four-
legged animals called dogs. They chased me throughout the afternoon and thankfully none
of them bit me or anything on the bike. Most of the dogs I came across stopped running
as soon as I yelled at them. One dog actually didn't. I first heard this dog barking from
the other end of a fenced property which was adjacent to the road. Then, I saw this little
shit come barrelling down the driveway at full speed. When I realized that the gate to the
driveway was opened, I sped up. Just as I passed the driveway's entrance, the dog came
onto the road and turned to chase me. However, it didn't slow down when negotiating the
90º turn. As I looked over my shoulder, the dog slipped on the gravel and crashed into the
opposite ditch in a heap of dog and dust. He returned to the road in a daze, looked at me
embarrassingly and trotted back onto its property with his tail between his legs. I burst out
laughing. That little shit showed me, I said out loud.
I returned to my normal pace and enjoyed the cycle up until the 10 kilometre-to-go
mark. The road became increasingly difficult with steep climbs and more rocky outcrops. I
eventuallyarrivedattheOgoouéRiverwhichflowedaroundtheislandtownofLambaréné,
whose hospital was founded by the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and medical missionary
Albert Schweitzer. I found the Ogooué River quite interesting. As it flowed in a westerly