Michael de Jong Diary Update

2273 Km have passed and all the riders are healthy and safe in Karthoum today. Four riders are no longer EFI club members but the spirits of all are high.

We will be entering Ethiopia in the next six days which will push the riders to new limits of physical endurance. Many thought the lack of roads and pushing the bikes through sand was tough. However, the unpaved roads and steep climbs in Ethiopia will be the next challenge.

The first three days in the Sudan Desert from Wadi Halfa to Kehrma were tough and three riders came in after dark which set in motion a chain reaction. To make a long story short everything went wrong, causing us to stay in the local flea bag hotel because one of the trucks came back late, since it was looking for riders who were already in the village of Kerhma.

The next day we set of again and on this day two riders never found the finish line which caused them to ride another forty kilometers past the campsite. Again a truck went looking for them but got stuck in the sand and was stranded until the next day when all the riders passed it and helped (along with a tractor) pushing it out of the sand.

Needless to say I am glad to be on paved roads again.
Michael