The Blue Nile Gorge

Nothing like a good dose of adversity to bring us all together. From the sandstorms, the heat exhaustion, the climbing, the overbearing locals, there is no end to the challenges tomorrow can bring. Like that terrible boss that everyone loves to hate, the frigid 5am wake-ups, the debilitating heat and the thousands of meters of climbing, have all become that terrible ‘other’ who is the source of our misery and delight. You could argue, and I will, that this delight in suffering, this pain for pleasure is the very source of what brings us all to this crazy adventure. To find satisfaction in a day’s work back home, an evening passed with all the mod-cons and luxuries, never feels as deserving as that barely cold coke at km 107. Just looking at the faces of all our riders as they crawled their way 20kms up a climb that never ends, and it’s nothing but thumbs up and smiles. Either we’ve all lost our minds, or if this suffering is the source of true bliss, then TDA must be the world’s newest religion. As each rider rolled across the finish line at the end of the day up the  Blue Nile Gorge, the crowd of spectators grew and grew, cheering each other into camp. As the challenges like this continue, week by week, the feeling of this day is like any other; we’re all in on it together and what doesn’t kill us, will at least be worth some strange sort of satisfaction in the end.