2011
31
paź
Tropique du Cancer
Sahara Zachodnia, El Argoub
Przejechano 17806 km
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The silent alarm watch wakes me up before the sunrise. I slept for about 9 hours, but I'm still tired. I will force myself once again to get up, dress these dirty and stinky clothes. It’s still dark and cold all around me when I'm starting the fire. Tea will be ready in few minutes. Everything is wet thanks to pretty high humidity of the Sahara coast. Last evening I left some fire wood under my tent thus not allowing the morning dew to accumulate on it. It’s not so easy to find proper firewood; I usually have to pick up everything what looks possible to burn and start collecting it around 1 hour before I finish cycling for the day. Fire makes some light; it cheers me up a bit. I'm packing up my sleeping bag and tent. In around 15 minutes, my camp is already all packed. If it wasn’t for breakfast, I would be ready to go; but I must eat and drink as much as I can to be fresh for the next 50 km. As usual, I slept next to some telecommunication towers, which you can find here every 20-30 km. It makes travelling much more easier on the Sahara. It’s a bit like in the old times when people were travelling from one orientation point to another. Now, along the main road there are towers, with a fence and a guardian, who usually has some potable water so when I'm cycling I know that there will be water on the way. I drank a coffee and two cups of tea with a lot of sugar, not to mention food; some bread with jam, sardines or something else.
The sun has come out; what a beautiful sunrise! It’s time to go! The wind has already started blowing. I sat on the bike and began the fight. For the next 10 hours I’m going to hear only an interminable roar in my ears and look at Hamada on my right and, hopefully, the ocean on the left. Wind will be carrying small sand grains which get easily into my chain and thus demolish everything. The sun, as it gets higher, it will start to burn any piece of my skin which is not covered. It a taxing work for all day, but a huge satisfaction in the end. Sometimes, when I'm really tired and the wind is pushing even harder I scream to hear something else than only wind. It cheers me up a bit so I'm less frustrated.
This is how my days looked on the Sahara almost every day. When I reached El Argoub, It was only 4 days in the West Sahara. I knew it will be like this for the next 10 days. There was nothing I could do with that. I was racing with time forcing myself and conquering tardiness and my physical pain. I was asking myself, ‘What the fuck I'm doing here", swearing like never before and cursing the wind. I was happy as a clam when I, somehow, managed to make a good distance for a day. ‘As much as I can,’ my lips repeated every morning, let alone, ‘Fuck the wind!’
Most of the small settlements here are usually military compounds or fishing hamlets; El Argoub was one of them. A few small square houses with little windows and nothing but sand or rocks around. It looks unreal... Some small girls are running fast from one door to another. Boys are playing football. There’s a few shops and two restaurants. I rested a bit and went on. 
The silent alarm watch wakes me up before the sunrise. I slept for about 9 hours, but I'm still tired. I will force myself once again to get up, dress these dirty and stinky clothes. It’s still dark and cold all around me when I'm starting the fire. Tea will be ready in few minutes. Everything is wet thanks to pretty high humidity of the Sahara coast. Last evening I left some fire wood under my tent thus not allowing the morning dew to accumulate on it. It’s not so easy to find proper firewood; I usually have to pick up everything what looks possible to burn and start collecting it around 1 hour before I finish cycling for the day. Fire makes some light; it cheers me up a bit. I'm packing up my sleeping bag and tent. In around 15 minutes, my camp is already all packed. If it wasn’t for breakfast, I would be ready to go; but I must eat and drink as much as I can to be fresh for the next 50 km. As usual, I slept next to some telecommunication towers, which you can find here every 20-30 km. It makes travelling much more easier on the Sahara. It’s a bit like in the old times when people were travelling from one orientation point to another. Now, along the main road there are towers, with a fence and a guardian, who usually has some potable water so when I'm cycling I know that there will be water on the way. I drank a coffee and two cups of tea with a lot of sugar, not to mention food; some bread with jam, sardines or something else.
The sun has come out; what a beautiful sunrise! It’s time to go! The wind has already started blowing. I sat on the bike and began the fight. For the next 10 hours I’m going to hear only an interminable roar in my ears and look at Hamada on my right and, hopefully, the ocean on the left. Wind will be carrying small sand grains which get easily into my chain and thus demolish everything. The sun, as it gets higher, it will start to burn any piece of my skin which is not covered. It a taxing work for all day, but a huge satisfaction in the end. Sometimes, when I'm really tired and the wind is pushing even harder I scream to hear something else than only wind. It cheers me up a bit so I'm less frustrated.
This is how my days looked on the Sahara almost every day. When I reached El Argoub, It was only 4 days in the West Sahara. I knew it will be like this for the next 10 days. There was nothing I could do with that. I was racing with time forcing myself and conquering tardiness and my physical pain. I was asking myself, ‘What the fuck I'm doing here", swearing like never before and cursing the wind. I was happy as a clam when I, somehow, managed to make a good distance for a day. ‘As much as I can,’ my lips repeated every morning, let alone, ‘Fuck the wind!’
Most of the small settlements here are usually military compounds or fishing hamlets; El Argoub was one of them. A few small square houses with little windows and nothing but sand or rocks around. It looks unreal... Some small girls are running fast from one door to another. Boys are playing football. There’s a few shops and two restaurants. I rested a bit and went on.
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