Ouagadougou to Zorgho - Day 257

Date: May 2nd, 2010
Distance: 110km
Country: Burkina Faso
Song of the Day: On Down the Line - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

So I was trying to get out early today, and ended up failing miserably. I woke up late and then decided to make a big breakfast. I was up in Rene's old apartment, and he had left some food behind. So I cooked up a great breakfast of sausage, eggs and buttered toast. It was filling and fantastic, but didn't help me get out any faster.

After breakfast I packed up, but I couldn't find my shoes. After running around for a bit, I realized that I had left them downstairs in James' apartment. I didn't want to bug him, because a) I knew he hadn't had that much sleep the night before, and b) he had a hot date the previous night. I ended up waking him up anyway. Oh well. Sorry man. It did give me a good opportunity to say goodbye. James, best of luck with everything. Thanks for letting me stay with you. Keep in touch.

I did finally get on the road just before 11:00 AM. Not a really great start, but that was my fault. I would just have to suffer through the hot part of the day to make it to Zorgho. A few days ago my sister e-mailed me and said she was wishing me to have cloud cover and tailwinds. It seems to be working. At least a little bit. The cloud cover was scorched out of the sky before I was able to get on the road. I did have a bit of a tail wind though. Nice and cool too. So that really helped get me down the road.

After 25km I stopped to eat and stretch. A group of young boys came up and were watching me. When I started stretching they followed along. It was quite amusing to watch 8 young boys all reaching for their toes. They thought it was hilarious.

Cycling through the hot part of the day was still not a great idea. It worked out okay, but I don't want to make a habit out of it. It just makes it a struggle. Oh, and the terrain here really is quite flat. A few little hills here or there. Maybe a couple of rocky outcrops. That is it. Otherwise it is just Sahel. After you have seen your thousandth thorny tree, they begin to blur together. So the next couple of days may be a bit boring. After that I am heading to a national park which should have great scenery and lots of wild animals. So I am looking forward to that. (A big thanks to James for the tip on that one.)

Just before Zorgho, I got a big cramp in my right thigh. I don't know, but I think I must have pulled a muscle. It was bugging me earlier but it was so painful I could hardly ride. I spent a couple of minutes massaging it, and that seemed to work. At least it got me to Zorgho. I will have to see how that works out over the next couple of days.

-Dravis