Meanwhile ~ back on the road…

…And inside my head.  We had left Tan Tan  with renewed vigour, added keenness and Dennis’s Bike with a rebuilt top end. Would it make any difference? Short answer is no. But we had to travel some miles to find that out.  There is an expectant air about us. A feeling that we should be alert and observant. Wait, wait – I may be assuming a lot here. Maybe it’s just me that feels these things? As with this entire Blog, i write purely personally (selfishly?) and from one persons perspective – perhaps i wear blinkers when it comes to the thoughts and feelings of others?…… (that’s a cue for “you’ve upset and offended me!” type comments from other trip participants that read and lurk.)

 

Sustenance!

 

Some thoughts occurred to me. Due to nearly effing fainting/nodding off the other day while in the saddle, simply due to not eating! Lunch stops are at best unreliable. So, if i want to stay fit to ride, to cope, to endure – I’m going to have to come up with a way of eating while still riding the bike. You cant just drop into a roadside cafe for a snack. MuckDonalds are not exactly common around these parts. So Marc – how you gonna do this?!

 

Maybe it’s  because in my misspent youth it would have been how i coped, more likely it’s sheer desperation and the knowledge that if i don’t look after me – no other fecker will. I come up with a Baldrick style ‘cunning plan’. I have a little bumbag. i have dried apricots – thanks to Dennis actually! i think about what I’ll need to keep alert, keep the blood sugar level up and get some real protein, carbs etc inside me.

 

The solution when i get it together shocks, annoys and horrifies me to be honest. As i would never eat like this at home. Dried fruit – o.k., makes sense. Dried nuts are added to this – again, a good food source. But the many, many, Mars bars and the litres of cola – that was never in any survival handbook was it?!

 

I think in the end i bought the entire stock of Mars bars in some roadside garage / shop. Seriously (though i didn’t let the lads know at the time – i will explain later!) i bought approximately 25 bars, about 8 litres of cola and 3 bags of nuts. Stashed these on the Bike and stocked up my bumbag as required. This is what kept me alive through the next few hundred miles – all the way to Gambia, i was dipping into my little bumbag and feeding me face while riding the bike. Believe me – Mars bars are better than money in Mauritania! It proved to be a damn good plan.