Go Ghana Cycle Challenge – Agona-Swedru to Aburi

Monday 3^rd October: Cycling Day 2

Distance                    84km

Calories burned          Loads

Level roads                0

Hilly roads                  All of them

Accidents                   0

Degree of difficulty     10/10

Misery factor             Increasing

Loss of dignity           Sadly, yes

Today’s cycling was billed thus: “Today gives us a whole day’s biking through scenes of Ghanaian daily life on level and sometimes busy tarmac roads….”  I’ll give them  “sometimes busy” and “tarmac”, but no way are these roads level it’s hills all the way, with the final grind up to Aburi a 1:1 gear killer on a road so degraded there’s no hint of tarmac remaining.  I salute those who make the final ascent, but join the exhausted contingent hitching a lift up the hill. For today is the day that the going got tough.  In other words, the sun came out and the hills got longer and steeper,

There’s an entertaining start to the day as we sweep in convoy through the bustling market but no time to stop and take photographs.  No matter, for Humphrey will capture the scene for his video.  Throughout our journey Humphrey videos everything that moves, and for that matter everything that doesn’t move. Yesterday, I smiled for the camera and was happy to give him quotes.  Today, after grinding uphill for 80 sunbaked kilometres with my saddle rapidly welding to my arse, I smile through gritted teeth and avoid saying anything as he’d only have to edit out the expletives.   

The morning takes us through a second busy town, Nsawam, where crazy taxi drivers pick off cyclists one by one and do their best to force us of the road. I’m not sure if they hate us or if Ghanaian driving is so bad it’s just coincidence that they cut us up whenever they pass.  As we leave Nsawam there is a long row of coffin makers displaying an array of increasingly ornate and polished coffins.  Death is big business in Ghana, with many choosing to be buried in a wooden facsimile of their profession – the guide book shows a picture of an airplane coffin.  Sadly none are on display here.

The heat of the day leads to ever more inventive ways of cooling down.  The bags of ice cold water distributed at every stop are balanced on heads, held to the back of necks or form a third boob under cycle shirts.  But Tim finds the best way to cool down, pouring the freezing water down our backs provides instant relief for a few minutes.

And today’s dignity lapse?  After lunch on a school playing field, Suzi and I search for a quiet place to reapply our chafe reducing chamois cream. Finding none, we squat down behind the library and pray no-one looks out of the window.