Go Ghana Cycle Challenge: Elmina to Agona-Swedru

Sunday 2^nd October Cycling Day 1

(Distances and route maps have been nicked from a fellow cyclist’s blog which you can find at http://neilgoghana.blogspot.com/.  Thanks, Neil. )

Distance                      70km

Calories burned          Quite a few

Crocodiles                   3

Level roads                 1         

Hilly roads                   All the others

Accidents                    2

Degree of difficulty      7/10

Misery factor               Low

Loss of dignity             Yes

 Off to a flying start on the one level tarmac road we encounter during our 6 days of cycling, to our first pitstop at Hans Cottage, a restaurant set in a crocodile infested lake.  Interesting. The baby croc on the bank is so still I think it is plastic, but there are larger, more active ones in the lake.  They look well fed, so I don’t think we are in any danger and pay more attention to the bright yellow weaver birds creating intricate nests hanging down from the trees.

The tarmac runs out soon after this along with the level road, and the majority of the day is spent cycling up and down rocky off road tracks.  The hills are relatively short and not too taxing, but I soon realise that my bar bag is unlikely to survive the trip as it is shaken off twice by the bone-jarring terrain. More seriously, not everyone has ridden off-road before and two accidents follow in quick succession, the most serious involving KM who has nasty cuts and bruising to his arm and hip which have to be regularly cleaned and dressed for the rest of the week.

Our first lunchstop highlights the logistical difficulty of this trip.  Freshly cooked food is provided by Peter and Jessica – who normally run a small pizza restaurant in a shack in Aburi, a later destination on our itinerary.  This seats a maximum of 10 people.  But this week, they are travelling with all their equipment (including pizza oven and generator) on a flat-bed truck over the same off road tracks that we are cycling, which then has to be set up under a canvas awning before cooking can begin.  As well as hungry cyclists, there is a hungry support crew to feed, so each day 30 odd meals have to be served at once.  All this takes time. At least the delay means we get a reasonable break from cycling in the heat of the day and provides a few hours diversion for the villagers. I’m not quite sure what they make of us. Although we seem very remote, the little girl posing like a catwalk model for our photographs suggests we are nearer to civilisation than it may appear.

Another plus is that our first cycling day is not too hot as there is thick cloud cover throughout, which contributes to my overall happiness added to which the off road section means I’m standing in the saddle for much of the time so no pain in the bum today.

The one downside today is the coach transfer to the hotel, which takes over two hours and comes after a visit to Slave River to see where the captives took their final bathe before being marched in chains to the coast.  We arrive at our hotel at 7.30pm – some 4 hours after finishing cycling for the day and still in our sweaty cycle gear.  The length of the journey contributes to my first loss of dignity on the trip – I have to ask the coach to stop so I can pee at the side of the road.  I am joined by half the coach, so don’t feel quite so bad.