When i stop the emotional energy immediately drains from me and it is near impossible for me to muster any enthusiasm to do anything except eat and sleep.
There are some places i really should have cycled to see but 🤷♂️ maybe next time.
I woke at about 12.30 and read till about 3am. Finally i fell asleep to wake as the sun rose just sbove the surrounding hills. A quick breakfast and coffee.
5kms doen the track i came to this a 24% gradient. The guy said you wont be able to ride that, i as slways scoffed at him, but he was so right and to add insult to injury one of the workers had to help me push it up. I was wheezing like a guy with bronchitis. We just made it. The hill was a welcome change.
The rest of the route was on/of road through palm trees and waddis.
I was pleased with this distance 1,769.28 kilometers from Abu Dhabi
Hatta to Salalah 1314.39 Kilometers 13 days one of them a day off. This was mostly fkat through the desert and quite tough. Carrying the extra backpack with 6kgs of water and stuff really through my balance out and another 6kgs is a lot.
A little rest here for a day or 2 then back up north for a bit more cycling.
I had scouted a place to camp when it was light, i cycled across the road in pitch blackness and put my tent up by an old trailer. Just as i was putting my tent up 3 guys walked up, they were Ethiopian, were sleeping in the trailer, we had a brief conversation then went back to our nite duties.
By 6am i was cycling.
Really there is a lot of desert.
The irony of feeling you do not have to ride so far is that you feel tired all the day. I struggled to get motivated and stopped regularly to drink, i stopped twice to make coffee, eat or just lie and try to relax. And when i git back on the bike i struggled.
I had scoped a frankincense tree orchard and it being a world heritage site it is one of the most boring tourist attractions i have been to. I was lucky enough to turn up at the same time as an British couple and listened in on their 10 minutes private tour.
My legs were getting close to the end of their ability to move, and the route, to honour this took me off road up some brisk hills and a stonker of a push.
I was searching for a flat spot out of the increasingly strong wind.
I promised Moira that there was no wind, but it was howling and and as i had not put the fly sheet on everything in the tent was starting to get covered with a layer of fine sand. So in the middle of the night with the wind trying to rip the flysheet out of my hands i struggled and got the fly over the tent a little less sand entered.
But in the morning the fly sheet was soaked with consensation.
As for the day I know the route was flat and a following wind. I rode 100kms and sat resting under some palm trees. I put the tent up to dry it out. Then i rode to a hotel and went to sleep in the room.
I knew there would be a strong following wind so as always i woke and packed early. Im stull following the paralell road to the one with vehicles so its a pleasure to ride and not a worry to start when a little too dark.
I just keep the pedals churning at a steady rhythm. I stop every 10 to 15 kms just to relax but this is an easy ride, no hills just a very light rolling route. By 11.30 i had done 120kms and I rode towards a petrol station.
As i changed gear i heard an unusual noise. I looked down and noticed the front derailleur was not shifting. I ride into the gas station, parked up and inspected.
Im also timing my run into Salalah so more distance today I cannot be bothered. I just sit feeling frustrated. I can ride in the small chainring but this will curtail my speed a bit and also force me to adjust some of the rest of my trip.
I loitered for the rest of the day and at 6pm isg break fast time the guys i was with gave me food. I had a good afternoon/evening.
Such a relief to stop early yesterday, with a measily 75kms done I had so much time to relax and sort out supplies. I rode hard and finished by about 10.30. I did something i have seldom done before, i checked 2 hotels and went to second cheapest. I know amazing.
I really find it a struggle to do anything when i stop. I can be sociable to people when talking but i really just want to go to my room and curl up.
My room had no windows so getting up on time was complicated. Obviously i have a reasonable idea but seeing the light come up is best. I was downstairs 20 mins too early and sat at reception for that time.
I am riding the old national road its paralell to the main road with absolutely no traffic.
I bought some factor 60 sunblock smothered myself this morning. Unfortunately i think it does not work as well as the factor 30 i brought from Greece. My arms are red. I think i will have to wear a long sleve top tomorrow, it really will be hot.
I was sitting on a stone sheltering from the sun in the shade of a oil can rubbish bin (oh the salubriousness my life). When 2 motorcyclists stopped. One Aun from Pakistan and the other Alex from France. They had both just ridden through Saudi Arabia, multi month tours. Serious efforts 👏. Now on to Salalah as i am. I fear they will be gone by the time i get there. But we talked travel for a long time. I really enjoyed their company.
Then as the sun started to dip we went our separate ways.
I woke up cold, breakfast/coffee. Packed fast and started to ride. By 8.30 it was intolerably hot. I am suffering, my legs just don’t want to pedal. I ride maybe 5 to 10 kms then have to rest. Eat as much as i can drink then start again. My quads are ok but my glutes just don’t want to fire.
There is no shade anywhere so never a relief from the sun. It takes all my mental capacity to keep going. Less than 500kms to Salalah now. There are places to buy food at 100km intervals which makes life a little easier.
Since i started carrying water and stuff in a rucksack, about 5 or 6 kgs, riding has been tougher. And the pressure on my hands, wrists, arms and shoulders and back has increased and they are aching.
I know you think I’m mad but, soak oats overnight with a mix of yoghurt and water. Then in the morning add some honey. You just cannot go wrong with that.
I was out a little later than desired. But once again the wind was at an advantageous angle. So I was off faster than a bullet. Its exciting watching the scenery wizz past.
As you can see there is a lot of nothing to see, it’s a desert what do you expect.
When I left Greece my idea was to ride through the Rub al Khali to Salalah. This is the scenery i expected. The wind is a bit unwelcome despite being advantageous. I wanted to ride long hard kilometers. The route down is about 1000kms, I’m just over half way. It is way harder than I thought. The sun is hotter, the route is flatter, my ass is hurting more, the road is straighter,and the mental effort to keep going is way tougher.
The cool mornings are fantastic and till about 11 all is good but then the sun starts to get to its zenith and all hell breaks loose. I kept riding taking intermittent rests thrn my legs just would not turn the pedals. I try to find cover but there really is nothing, except every so ofter these small, l believe prayer huts. Where im going to sleep tonight.
As i was riding i looked across the highway and saw a camper van, I dumped my bike and walked across to introduce myself. Martin and his family from Montpellier,have been touring the Middle East, just coming into their second year. Unfortunately their time in Oman has not been full of joy and so are hightailing it out to Saudi Arabia.
Waking up in the tent is shere joy. The predawn twilight, just light enough for me to cook porridge and coffee and enjoy those delicious moments before the hecticness of the day starts. Then slowly the sun perks its upper curve above the hill tops on the horizon and in moments the whole circle of burning fire is blasting into your world.
I pack fast, ive got a rhythm and i know where everything goes. The wind is already ripping at my clothes and as the tent pegs come out its all my worth to keep hold of the tent. I ram it into its bag, i hasn’t folded a tent in years. Drop each bag into its position on the bike and ride towards the road.
The wind is on my back and I am screaming along. I just use my gps for the map and little else so i have little idea of speed or time.
Then back on the road. The truckers and cars all wave to me. Giving me a sence of comradery.
The road joined another and turned nearly 90⁰ this changed how the wind hit me, and although it still helped me along i was also sandblasted from the side, sheets of sand whipping up from the surrounding desert. I rode until a couple of times the road was completely obliterated. The bike was also ripped sideways as gusts hit the wheels and me. My right ear was full of sand.
Way back i saw a sign for a small town. Most small town seems to have a beautifully looked after supermarket. And they always allow me to sit snd rest for a while. Ramadan precludes me from eating in public. As i was sitting in my sand/heat blasted reverie i saw a sign Hotel. And like a pathetic moth to a flame i was in, paid and showered, my tent would not have stayed upright in that wind, well thats my excuse and im sticking to it.
In 1979 fresh out of school I was lost, fucked all my A levels (really academic study of any kind is not for me) i really had no idea what to do (still don’t) so luckily for this wimpy pathetic kid, my father sorted a job. I worked in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 for a year for an American company called Harbert Howard, laying the water supply network to Jeddah. It was hot work, outside most of the time, walking pipelines searching for leaks. Then when they were found digging down to the pipe to find the collar and hopefully the reason for the leak. Being there lowed me to learn to Dive😍😍🤩 oh the Red Sea diving 😲 learn softball, becone quite good at squash. Oh the outdoor life for me.
At the end of my year i hitched a lift from a friend who was driving back to UK. North through Saudi, into Jordan then Syria. Between Jordan and Syria in no mans land a group of guys in jeans and t-shirts jumped out pointing guns at us, they demanded our passports that we proffered quickly, they checked gave them back and waved us on, I have never been so scared on my life.
While there my father advised/suggested 🤔 I should read Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger. During that year I had a great deal of free time on my hands and consequently I did follow his advice, quite unusual for a 19/20 year old me. I now have the book on my Kindle so can reread it anytime.
Maybe that was the instigator to keep bringing me back to this region.
Thesiger describes how he crosses and recrossed, Al Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter in the late 1940’s. He had been in the SAS in the war so was not adverse to a bit of hardship. The book is extraordinary. The Empty Quarter covers most of the southern part of the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and Yemen)
So here I am, unfortunately just crossing the southern limits. There are a few towns here but not a lot else, the sea of dunes are further north.
Emotions are divided between heaven and hell. After the rack disaster and my elated feelings of success unfortunately i think i banget a few too many kilometers trying to catch up distance. Then the next day i rode a few kms again and it was quite hot.
I’m egged on by the spectacular scenery. But it takes its toll on me and yesterdays ride ended in a limp. Oman as you have seen is one of the most spectacular, beautiful, comfortably and safe places to camp but for some reason i rode into Ibri and booked a hotel. Then the next day I extended for another night.
My hotel unfortunately/ fortunately is a couple of Kms out of town i made the mistake of turning right on the first night for food. But left on the second
I spent most of my day off lying on my bed. This does tend to be my way of recovery. I made a little effort to see Ibri Castle
A Couple of Days Ride Outta....... 