Zaïre (The Democratic Republic of Congo) - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 250

normally didn't have breakfast, made an exception for me. We chatted at the table and had
some coffee and doughnuts. I thanked the rector and hopped on my bike.
SinceIonlyhad75kilometrestoarriveinLikasi,Idecidedtotakeiteasy.Theroad
surface during the morning cycle changed several times. After 15 kilometres or so, I star-
ted a stretch of rocky gravel. Still sensitive to the condition of my tires, I decided to take
a break and walk. My left foot was still sore from the 19 kilometre walk I did to Kamina.
To pass the time during the walk and to focus on something other than the dull pain from
my foot, I said the Rosary. I eventually came across 400 metres of asphalt which I cycled
and decided to continue to cycle even though the road surface switched back to the gravel.
At 11:00 a.m., I stopped just after the village of Guba and bought some maniok, cucumber
and fruit. I sat with the locals and chatted over lunch for quite a while before I returned to
the road.
A few kilometres later, I met a Mozambique couple in a car who hailed me to stop.
The driver warned me that the river up ahead had crested and flooded the road up to one
metre in depth. I thanked him for his warning and pushed off on the lookout for this sub-
merged road. About 10 kilometres from Luambo, there it was. I assessed the situation and
decided that crossing it, even by lifting the bike over my head, would have been too risky.
As I sat there pondering my next step, some locals suggested that I walk my bike to the
railway tracks about a 150 metres to my left, and cross the river using the bridge. They
assured me, the bridge was safe to cross…that is, when no trains came. So, I took their ad-
vice. Extraordinarily enough, as I approached the tracks, a train actually went by heading
north.“Whatwerethechancesofanothertraincomingsosoonafterthisone?”Iaskedmy-
self.
I cycled up to the tracks and hopped off the bike. I looked at the 100 metre bridge
and strategized how I would cross. I decided to place the bike on one rail and to stand on
the other rail. I slowly side-stepped across as people stood to the side in disbelief to allow
me to pass. I mentally blocked out all the distractions (the fast flowing river beneath my
feet, the threat of an oncoming train, the gasps of the locals, and the 'what ifs') and just
focussed on keeping my front tire on the rail and me and the bike balanced.
“Choo-choo!!!” (Just kidding.) I made it across the bridge without incident and
walked to the back of the train station nice and dry. I took a 10 minute mental break and
then cycled to the front of the station and onto the national road. I felt sorry for the car and
truck drivers for they had one hell of an impressive obstacle course trying navigate around
the numerous potholes. Again, for a bicycle, this was a non-issue.
Several kilometres after Luambo, I took a break. The area was quite beautiful with
foliageallaroundandtheroadwaslinedwithstallssellingavarietyofproduce.Thecolour
of the fruits and vegetables were vibrant and contrasted greatly with the brown roads, the
blue sky and the greenery. It had been a while since I saw such a selection of vegetables
that including tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, celery, potatoes, etc . I bought 9 small bananas