Before I came on this trip, wise counsel told me "there are two things that are important here: yourself and your team. You are only as strong as your weakest link."
That first night in Cairo before an adventure into the unknown with five men I didn't know, the discussion was about the team and the importance of cycling as a team and having a leader on the road.
Now, six months later, I find myself laughing at my naivety. This trip is such an intense personal journey, such a challenge on a daily basis, a monumental mind game to get through seemingly endless hours, days, weeks and months on a bike. The "team" has had to take second place in so many respects. You learn waht you have to do to get through the day, whether that means cycling slower, getting away for a day or two, or bombing on ahead. But very seldom do we rely on the team for that mental support. It is just too tough out there, or they are just typical men! But the result is that we don't talk about frustrations, physical challenges, personal issues... we are individuals doing the same trip.
Suddenly, six months on, we are ending this adventure and there is a renewed concept of team. Although such an incredibly personal journey, it is a journey we have made together. It is a group of people that, despite their differences, now share one of the most incredible experiences; a patchwork of moments that stir up vivid memories in the eight of us. Feathers have been ruffled, we have had our fair share of rifts and flare ups, we have disputed, argued, and cried... but the team is intact. We have also laughed endlessly, analysed life and love, cycled along the Nile, got lost in the Nubian desert, got drunk in "dry" Sudan, chewed chat in Ethiopia, climbed mountains in Kenya, roughed it in Tanzanian mud, swum in Lake Malawi, rode motorbikes in Zambia, rafted on the Zambezi, dodged elephants in Botswana and partied it up in South Africa... We are going to cross that line together.
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