Some of you reading this have taken the train from Lubumbashi to Kamina. This is the section where they cut the train in two, because the engine can't pull the grade.
Some of you have made the drive on this road. (the infamous National Route One) You will recall the marvelous switchbacks, uphill and down, along this section.
It's a great place to ride a bicycle. And we did. All day. 76 kilometers.
It was a fun day. Heard a bicycle go down behind me. Then a laugh. We are carrying a live turkey on one of our bicycles.
You let go on a downhill when it look mostly safe, and run through the splash area at the bottom. Then, get on the power to get to the top so you can do it again. This is a fantasy. It never worked this way. It's rocks all day. When it's not rocks, it's sand. (I hate sand.) Water, mud, rocks, sand. Again. Water, mud, rocks, sand.
Mumba calls out, "Poli-poli!" Slowly-slowly. Sharp rocks cover the road. This is mostly limestone country, but some times, to keep it interesting, there's a volcanic looking rock formation covering the road. Washed out places offer technical riding opportunities. Ride on the crown, drop down and pop up and balance on the next crown. Leave the road on a foot path to avoid the huge water/mud holes, holes big enough to swallow 10 ton trucks whole. (We saw not a single truck on the road until we arrived just outside Luena, and we had a hard time getting around him. Yes, we are faster than the trucks.)
One of those rocks bit my back tire. Blowout. Pas de probleme. Change of tubes and back on the road. Flats happen. In fact, Mumba had a flat while we we stopped for a break. He and Elephant repaired the tube in situ, never taking the wheel off.
We did have a more serious flat yesterday in Lububdi. The tire itself was damaged. We visited the local bike shop. Open air, limited tools, but not afraid of these new high tech bicycles from Zambia.
A big shout out to the good folk at ZamBike. The Amaka Sana (Very Strong) bikes are testing well. We'll send pictures. Also, a shout out to our friends at Fondo du Congo. We're having the time of our lives. Wish you were here.
Also, a shout to our two favorite bike shops back in Indiana. I've been buying and servicing my Cannondales for over 20 years at Bicycle Garage Indy; and the new shop up the street in Plainfield, Gear Up Cyclery, also sponsors of the Fondo du Congo, and great neighbors.
We rode into Luena, approaching the town from above, kinda like seeing LA from the Hollywood sign. Would have taken a picture, but one of our support motorcycles had just had a bit of trouble getting through the police road block. Thought we should just keep moving.
Bob
Luena
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