Malawi Gin

Greetings!

I have been trying to upload some photos but I am not having any luck with the connection today so I will post a text blog and hopefully the connection will improve.

When I last posted a blog the TDA had rolled into the beach camp in Malawi and we had started the Malawi Gin section (named after a brand of gin, of course). The days are a bit of a blur and I am not as good as some riders at keeping a journal each day or writing up blogs at night. Also the Malawi Gin section was only ten days long with seven of those days in Malawi so it went fast.

The first thing that I noticed when we crossed the border into Malawi from Tanzania was that Malawi is a much poorer country. As soon as we crossed the border the children ran to the road to greet us and it was obvious to me that many were hungry and/or suffering from disease - probably HIV/AIDS. An worker from one of the organizations that received bikes donated by the TDA Foundation told us that 1 in 8 children will not make it to the age of 5 in Malawi. I found that shocking but by looking at some of the children on the roadside it did seem like that statistic might be true. On our first bush camp in Malawi we were surrounded by hundreds of children and adults and the TDA staff had to set up a rope perimetre around the trucks and our eating area - that was the first time that had happened since Ethiopia. On the rides I also came across hundreds of kids yelling things like "Give me my money!"or standing with their hands out. There was lots to think about on the bike each day and again lots to try and process. I don't think I will ever get used to seeing children under the age of 6 or 7 carrying babies on their backs (their brothers or sisters) or babies and children carrying water or fire wood on their heads. Some days it is heartbreaking and the rides are that much harder.

On the riding side of things - I raced a few stages of the Malawi Gin section and won two stages - a 128km stage which I raced solo and won without any help - drafting etc. The second stage win was on Easter Sunday - 107km and it was fast and furious. A couple of the women put in a great pursuit effort and I got some help from the husband and wife team, Rod and Julianna and then in the afternoon from Sunil and Paul. I stopped for lunch because fried egg sandwiches were being served but when I found out that I came first among the women but second overall behind the South African Jethro - I was kind of sorry I didn't skip lunch because he did and he only beat me by two minutes! Oh well - it is one of my rules to not skip lunch especially when it is brown bread, fried eggs, tomato and avocado! That might not sound too special but for us it is a real treat!

So a couple of exciting race results and within no time we were crossing the border into Zambia. The problem with racing a few stages is that I tend not to stop as often and take less photos. Malawi was the perfect terrain for me though - lots of big rollers, fast descents and fun climbs. The mountain climbs in Malawi were really challenging but these days we are all kind of used to doing 150km rides with 1500-2000 meters of climbing. I really loved the racing but I really prefer, as I have said before having the both worlds - racing one day and cruising along the next. So for Zambia it is back to riding as hard as I feel like on the day - with more stops and chats with other riders along the way.

Our last rest day in Malawi was at a nice backpackers camp with decent food and a nice pool. It was nice to relax, have a swim and work on my bike. I had a couple of quiet days before heading to Zambia - I am starting to feel very tired these days - lots of kilometres and lots of nights in a tent. Non-riding days are so important these days!

More about Zambia and I hope some photos soon!