Stage 3 - From Addis Ababa to Nairobi
 

What goes up must come down. Some great descents both on and off road, brought us out of the Ethiopian highlands and into the Rift Valley and the Kenyan border. The Ethiopian children grew more annoying as temperatures increased and road surfaces deteriorated. This section of the ride is not called "Meltdown Madness" for nothing, and it tested the metal of many of the group.

In Addis Abeba I attended a ceremony to present bicycles on behalf of the Tour d'Afrique Foundation, to organisations to assist with their work with local people. Four groups - two who work with victims of HIV AIDS, and two who work with young people, progressing their business skills, were delighted with the bikes. In a country in which motorised transport is a rarity, the bicycle allows easier access to education, goods, services and medication.

Into Kenya, I had to test my off road skills once more. The six days from the border to Mount Kenya are recognised as the hardest part of the trip and justify the claim to this being the hardest bike ride in the world. The road is not paved, but is lined with loose rocks, lava flow, gravel, sand and corrugated ruts, left by trucks and buses. The road is euphemistically named the Trans East African Highway! Most riders fell off at some time or other. When it was my turn, I fell hard on lava rock, and bruised elbow, wrist and hip. I bounced along painfully for several days...

Think of Kenya and you may think hot and dry. That is true, but when the rain comes, it does so with a vengeance. At a barren lava rock desert camp, a violent wind, sand and thunderstorm blew in, just in time for tea. The ground couldn't hold the torrent and within minutes, the site was a mud-swollen quagmire. Tents were flooded, sleeping bags floated away, and the sodden group surreally sloshed around in the mud, trying to enjoy the bread and butter pudding that James had carefully prepared for dinner. All part of the Tour d'Afrique!!

After staying at the very traditional African village of Marsabit in the north, the southern parts of Kenya seem like a little piece of Britain. Progressing round Mount Kenya, the road signs, shops, goods, hotels all became a bit more like home. I revelled in the most enticing example of that: the ready availability of Cadbury's fruit & nut chocolate!

I have just crossed the Equator. One side of the road seems much the same as the other, but things have changed. I am in a different hemisphere. I am heading towards the winter, rather than the summer. Water drains away in an anti-clockwise direction (allegedly). The sun moves across the sky from right to left. And I have to put more sun block on the back of my neck and less on my nose....

Now in Nairobi, I have completed the third section of the ride - the Meltdown. Despite the mud, lava rocks, sand, bumps, falls, heat, cold, wet and dry, my bicycle has performed flawlessly, and do I need to say it? - No punctures....