April 10th, Day 7 In a hotel next to the pyramids

Chris's Story

Today has been a real test. I woke up to in amazement as I heard Frank get up at 5:30am!!!! In fact I wasn't that amazed as I had hardly slept in our 5 star accommodation in our adopted abandoned house. We took our tent down and packed away our things and by 7 o'clock we were en route back along the desert road. The further we got from Alexandria the more one could feel the lack of the cool sea breeze that whipped off the Mediterranean. As I cycle along trying to wake up and my mind tries to register with my body that it is in pain. I have an extremely sore backside from a new saddle that was put on my bike just before we left, and my legs are in agony from cycling with over 70lbs on my bikes. I made the fatal error of cycling in the highest gear and it took a painful toll on my knees. I stop after about an hour and decide that it would be wise to take full advantage of the supplements that GNC had supplied me. I quickly wolf down some protein supplement and a feel much better for it. I carry on. Frank meanwhile has disappeared into the distance and I slug on. I am averaging about 10.5 miles an hour and am quite content with that speed at the beginning of our trip, although I hope it to improve towards the end. As I ride, being constantly passed by huge trucks and cars at tremendous speeds, I can't help thinking that all they have to do to propel themselves is push their foot down on a small pedal, whilst I am here riding my heart out and not getting anywhere fast! I try to console myself by singing a song to myself. The theme song from the band America goes through my mind - Driving through the desert with a horse with no name - I decide to call my bike Sir Turtle as I feel like the tortoise and the Hare having to constantly catch up Frank the Hare Brennan.

We carry on stopping every hour and after refreshment breaks we resume our ordeal along the extremely straight, tedious and undulating desert road. Finally we arrive within sight of the Pyramids and yet another McDonalds. It is with a twinge of hypocrisy that I moan at the sight of fast food chains springing up in Egypt, as I feel it robs Egypt of its unique cuisine that it has offered in the past and renders it on a par with the rest of the developed countries that have imported this rather bland ubiquitous type of restaurant although I must admit it was enjoyable to eat a meal in hygienic surrounding with no thought of the pharaohs curse keeping you within 10 yards of a bathroom the next day. Whilst in the restaurant we ask the manager how far the pyramids are away. He replies that they are 15 kilometers away and that the road is a little bit up and a little bit down. We soon find out that this means that it is the steepest hill we have to climb and the fastest descent we have experienced.

We then arrive at our hotel and are once more greeted with the familiar NO NO. I groan and make the usual approach to the Manager and as usual they are very understanding and even discount our room and upgrade us to a room with a view of the Pyramids. We decide to stay an extra day in Giza in order to take care of some details we were unable to finish when we were in Cairo two days ago. I am also looking forward to giving my body a break from the beasting that it has just been through. Stay tuned for our Pyramid pictures which will be posted tomorrow!

Frank's Story

I am pleased to update you tonight from the comfort of a hotel, that was not an enjoyable night in the tent. We completed 79 miles today making it a thoroughly horrific 150 miles. The whole ride today was hill after hill and no end in sight. You could see for miles but it was only more road. As the day wore on I thought I was never going to see the Pyramids, it was hotter today and we are drinking about 6 - 8 litres of water each. I was so hungry at one stage I ate my last 5 granola bars in about two minutes. I have felt pretty good cycling but you have to keep eating and drinking constantly, something I am not used to !! After last night I realise now why I have never camped since I did with friends as a young boy. A routine chore like removing contact lenses becomes a major problem. Dust everywhere, dirty hands, no facilities, it is a real hassle. Again, at the end of todays journey McDonalds saved the day. I must explain that we again had Big Macs but also 20 Chicken Mcnuggets, delicious!!

The final hill climb took me about 25 minutes to climb. It was a monster which I hope we do not have to face again. Then it was downhill into Giza. It was so steep I was travelling at 34mph at one stage, bit scary with all the bags on the bike. Finally I see them, huge blocks over the trees, it was the Pyramids, we made it. Structures standing after 4000 years. Will update tomorrow after I have a proper look.

With the cycle through Cairo and into Alexandria we are closing in on 200 miles, again it feels alot more with the added weight. I am so overwhelmed at the hospitality of the Egyptians, they are in awe of the bikes and after explaining we are cycling the length of Egypt they usually point at the bike and laugh. After the Desert Road I see their point. No major problems today, only some hobnob at the Hotel telling us we had to put the bikes in the car park. I gave him a little scouse lip before Chris calmed the situation and got us a discount. It is after midnight now so I will say goodnight, poor Mr Techno is asleep again but will have to be awoken to allow you all to have the update. Until then be safe ...

APRIL 11th Day 8 Still in Hotel next to Pyramids

FRANK'S STORY

Good day to all, Mum, Dad, family, friends, "C" and all newcomers to the web. First of all I must leave my e-mail address for some people I promised who wanted to stay in touch. My address is [email protected]

and Chris's is [email protected]

Today I had the pleasure of visiting one of the seven wonders of the world. The Pyramids at Giza. We enjoyed a camel ride out into the desert and a visit to The Sphinx. It was a day to remember. We then had a photo session for some of our sponsors, particularly Jamis Bicycles and Cellhire. This was done with the Pyramids as the back set. There were many school children at the Pyramids on tour and all the teachers had long sticks almost resembling whips. Chris took a photo of a group but the teacher apologized and hit the kids with the whip, another culture shock. It was quite amusing seeing the Police riding on camels. Tomorrow morning we leave for Beni Suef passing the Pyramids of Memphis and Saqqara. Chris tells me the first Pyramids built. Another picture I believe. As we move South we will be entering more Islamic Fundamental Territory.

I am looking forward to tomorrow, Pyramids, The Nile and lots of interesting sites to be explored, OH ! and a small matter of a full day back in the saddle. Anyway, I will speak to you all tomorrow..

Chris's Story

Wandering around 4000 year old pyramids for a good part of the day tends to humble you if not merely by the sheer magnificence of their presence and size than by their mystical origins. The pyramids are built on a 43 acre base and are 40 stories high and no one can say for sure how they were actually built. One can not really judge the size until one is stood underneath them. Yet one thing is for sure They do not fail to impress. Today we took a camel ride around the pyramids, Frank rode a camel called Moses and I had one strangely called BBC. The guides Hassan and Jamal took us for an hour ride through the desert and kept us entertained by discussing how married men were substantially poorer than unmarried men. So I was classified as a pauper and Sheik Frank was daubed a King. I left him to pay the bill!! The day went on and we had a wander around the sphinx complex and took a few snaps. We then headed back to our hotel and held our official photo shoots for our sponsors and rounded up some supplies for tomorrows push down the river Nile. I have spent today with very little feeling in my fingers as the trek down from Alexandria seems to have rendered my fingers numb and I have difficulty doing the simplest of tasks such as fastening buttons to eating with a knife and fork. I think that there might have been too much pressure on my wrists from my backpack which contains my water, so I shall make some adjustments for tomorrow in the hope that some feeling comes back to my fingers.

I managed to take quick snap of the Egyptian Tourist Police on their camels at the pyramids. We even saw them in action as they chased off some camel riders who were encroaching an area obviously forbidden for them to enter. It was quite a sight to see a camel galloping at full speed past you with a policeman brandishing a whip, which he had no hesitation in utilising. I was however reassured by the number of police officers that were around the whole complex. In most places you would see uniforms and we also spotted some plainclothes police.

In the evening we stayed in our hotel and prepared our bags for our next section of the trek and made the relevant adjustments to our itinerary that we had planned. We had a wonderful meal at the hotel restaurant, where I partook in some local delicacies, including a Lebanese Mezzah ( A large selection of middle eastern starters comprising of wrapped vine leaves, hummus - chickpea paste, tabouleh - a finely chopped salad, savoury cheese and mint pastries, and labna - a yoghurt dish, all served with warm arabic unleavened bread. this was followed by a main course of lamb and beef koftas and kebabs - meat served off a skewer on a bed of rice. To finish off I had an Om Ali which is cornbread soaked in milk and honey with nuts and cinnamon and nutmeg and served warm from the oven. It was the best meal I have had yet. Just the thing to prepare me for our next journey.

I was glad to receive some emails from my students at George Town Primary School and look forward to receiving some more soon. For those of you about to go on your Easter Breaks, have a happy Easter and I look forward to answering any questions you may have about Egypt. Time to finish off as it is 1:05am and tomorrow is a big day and Sheik Frank is snoring away as usual, so I guess I should get some sleep so that I stand a chance in keeping up with him tomorrow!

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