Arrived in Nuweiba

Today was one of those epics, on a par with Ben Hur and reading the complete works of Proust. We have covered 73 miles, which by my reckoning is 117km. We saw in the process the impossible beauty of the Sinai desert in sunlit glory - russet stone, distant sands, fierce trees clinging to the ground with the determination well known to parents of small children, occassional flurries of small birds....
Our new companions on the journey joined us about a third of the way in, leaping into the saddle fit and fresh whilst the rest of us were the full spectrum from equally fit and fresh (most people) to - well, stunningly fit and fresh, obviously
Today was initially marketed as all downhill. The writer would like to emphasise that there was a definite progression, as the morning went on, from no hills to one hill to a few hills to one more hill to that wasn't the hill I meant..... Suffice to say there jolly well were hills
We were much enhanced both physically and mentally by an exercise class held by the roadside and directed by Sarah B. We think it was tantric yoga combined with laughter therapy. Sadly there pictures to prove it
Lunch was fabulous as ever - the oranges here are particularly intoxicating - sweet and perfectly flavoured. We trekked off barefoot through the sand to look at some Greek graffiti- but more importantly at the possible site of burial of the children of Israel - some of them, that is - as they wandered the desert
After lunch the one more hill (I counted at least six) finally gave way to a gargantuan downhill ride. Imagine more than 20km of open road with a warm wind on your cheek and nothing to do but pedal as fast as you ever could, duck to minimise resistance, and then shout 'wheeee' if you passed anyone. Sadly the writer of this blog demonstrated her immaturity by doing all three - and by taking her hands off the handlebars just because she could. It's a small compensation for being a snail on the hills - but great consolation in fact when you have been pushed up a hill by Chaim. No one else would shame me by posting it so I have done it myself.
Highlights of the day, bearing in mind that this is a personal view from one who's so far behind most of the time that nobody knows she's here.....
Chocolate. Cold, fresh chocolate at the top of a hill. Sarah's exercise class. Chaim's local knowledge. Everyone's encouragement. Robert's wind shadow, graciously provided on many of the hills. Paul's endless support for the slow ones. Hugs on getting up a hill. Oranges (again). The downhill at the end. The sheer beauty of it. Louise's joy in it. The new gang joining us. Seeing nuweiba as we came down the hill. Seeing the signs to Nuweiba drop from 120k to 50k to 20k. Being left without a police escort with just the desert (they got bored. Maybe not wise but certainly peaceful). The new gang joining us and slotting in as of they had always been here. Breakfast. The honey. The birds in the desert. Bedouin women with sheep like scenes from thE Bible. Jane never stopping on a single hill. Everyone's help. The colours of the desert..
Tonight we look forward to showers, supper and lots of talking as the shared journey brings us closer together. Tomorrow apparently there are one or two difficult hills. I think ha ha, don't you?
This is the irresponsible correspondent signing off...
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