Greetings frm Luxor, Egypt.

First six days of riding are behind us and we had a rest day here in the Valley of the Kings, once the capital of Egypt. We rode 750 km for our first stint on good paved roads. Windy conditions made for some very long days. Temperatures were ideal for riding, around 20 C, or 68 F. Nights in the tent were extremely cold. One day we rode 146 km against the wind, with a tough climb and I struggled for 8 hours. The “hot shots” raced that day and a few of them finished in 5 1/2 hours. No wonder my ass hurts.

Everyone that is doing this ride is a “super star” in my mind and I will introduce all of them over the next few weeks. Today’s “super stars” are in the photo below, starting from left to right:

Mike  Voisin, age 59 from St. Albert, Alberta, a fellow Canadian. Mike is a director of a forestry company and is married with three daughters. Why did he decide to do this trip? Mike  says” he loves pain.” “It’s something monumental to achieve and is over the edge.” He is raising money for ALS, as his cousin Erik in the UK has been recently diagnosed. Mike’s web page is http://www.bit.ly/11BffyN.

Brenda, “The Mountain Lion,” Trenholme is one tough climber. She resides in  Rossland, BC. Canada.  It’s very evident she does a lot of climbing in the “Kootenay Mtns,” as she left me in the dust the first big climb.  Dr. Trenholme just retired as a GP. She retired in late November and two days later saw the TDA (Tour d’Afrique) on the web and she signed up. Brenda said, “This type of adventure is right up my alley.” Brenda is 62 and has two daughters.

Rupert Dixon, 36,  a super rider is even money on winning the TDA. Rupert has been only riding for three years in and around his hometown  of Devon, England. Rupert is single and rode 16,000 miles last year. Yes, that’s right, 16,000.  Rupert travelled through Africa a couple of years ago  and signed up for the tour to combine his love of biking and love for Africa.

Katja Steenkamp, 33, is one of the stronger women riders from Cape Town, SA. Born in East Germany, she moved to Cape Town 10 years go. Katja runs a mountain biking tour company http://www.breakawayriders.com  She is married and is raising money for Qhubeka, a world bicycle relief fund. http://www.katjasteenkamp.com

That’s all for today. Good night from the banks of the Nile.

Easy Rider,

Mike