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I was suddenly presented with a table of food. I ate and drank a bit too much and any re-
maining energy disappeared as my digestive system sucked it up.
Iwastootiredtocontinue cycling andaskedifIcouldstay.Withouthesitation they
agreed and gave me a room. I made a mental note to buy some oil for my chain from the
priests in the morning and to buy a new rear tire when I arrived in Kikwit.
At 6:00 pm I went to mass with the rector. The church had exquisite architecture
andfurnishingsthatweredecoratedintrueItalianstyle.Forthefirsttime,ImetsomeZaïri-
ans whowere openly anti-Mobutu. Sese Seko Mobuto was the Zaïrian president whocame
to power in a U.S.-supported coup in 1965. He has been propped up ever since by the IMF
and the World Bank and for decades he has been squandered millions of dollars in foreign
aid to his personal accounts in Switzerland. No wonder many Zaïrians despised him.
In the morning, I received some oil for my chain and said thanks and good-bye to
everyone. As soon as I left the mission I began to climb. The sun was behind thick clouds,
so the threat of rain was there but at least the sun wasn't beating down on me. I had a long
climb and when I crested it, I had a beautiful view of the area. This stretch of road was
again riddled with potholes and just outside of Kenge there was a lot of sand. I decided to
continue cycling and passed the town for it was still early in the morning.
The sun came out just as I passed my first road sign indicating Kikwit. From that
point onwards, the road was fantastic. My descent was a bit suicidal for I was going too
fast. My climbs were at a good pace for the gradient wasn't too severe. I took off my shirt
on the next climb and in the baking sun was covered in sweat. When I crested, I kept the
shirt off and the cool wind sent shivers down my back. The views were astounding so I
couldn't resist taking another photo.
Ilovedridingthecrestsofthesehills.IfeltlikeIwassurfing!Istoppedtobuysome
bananas and the guy asked me for my address which I gave him. Then he asked me for a
gift. I asked why? He said because, “Now we are friends.” I smiled and left.
A mental game I often played was asking for distances to my destination from
random locals. I would imagine a huge distance and then ask and would be surprised on
how close I really was. It was a gamble for sometimes what I thought was 4 kilometres
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