This is my third time in the West
African country. I know what I’ve gotten myself into, Europe cannot compare
with racing here. It literally would fill a book to try and explain the
differences between the two.
After resting for a couple of hours on
Thursday to heal the legs from the previous four days of ten-hour journeys from
the wintry Chiemgau it was time to begin a new challenge. The stage looked
simple enough on paper, only 128km of flat surface, no significant slopes and
the best road conditions you could ask for.
There was no delay at the start,
countless attacks and crazy initial tempo. Then after some time there was a 19
man lead group around our teammate of Stradalli-Bike Aid, Amanuel Mengis of
Eritrea. Joschka Beck was also near the front and working hard to help Mengis
throughout the day.
The heat was brutal and not a good
thing for all of the pale European riders like myself but we did our best. It
was also a challenge switching from the winter of home to the heat of Africa so
quickly. In most cases the Stradalli Aversa road bikes we are riding are able
to stand up to the challenge better than we are.
We raced well throughout the days as a
complete team but Joschka , Patrick and I were envious of our teammates Jean
Bosco Nsengimana and Amanuel Mengis because of how well they were able to
handle the heat. We pride ourselves in helping them learn while racing in
Europe but they are certainly the teachers here in Africa. Hopefully we can
continue our progress and the next few days of racing will see great results
for Stradalli -Bike Aid.
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